


Supernatural Rewrite: Season One Edition.

by huntertales



Series: Supernatural Rewrite. [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bad Parent John Winchester, Best Friend Sam Winchester, Canon deaths, Eventual Dean/Reader, F/M, If You Squint - Freeform, Reader Also Has a Decent Backstory, Reader Insert, canon violence, season one, supernatural rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 14:02:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 332,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11358972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huntertales/pseuds/huntertales
Summary: What if Supernatural had another main character? What if that character was you? (This a repost from Tumblr. @Huntertales is my username if you want to read it there, as well.)





	1. Pilot.

_**Twenty Two Years Ago...** _

“Come on sweetheart, let’s get you all cleaned up.” Ella (Y/L/N) picked up her two year old daughter from her highchair, chuckling softly to   herself when she saw leftovers from today’s breakfast covered on her cheeks. She rested her daughter on her hip as she reached for a cloth napkin to softly rub off the yogurt and mashed berries. “I’m surprised you’re not starving. Did you even get any in that belly of yours?” She playfully tickled (Y/N)’s stomach before putting putting her down on the wooden floors.   
  
She watched as her daughter ran off into the living room where all the toys for the toddler were spread across the carpet. It seemed that her daughter ruled the household. Wherever she tried to walk barefoot, somehow, she would always step on a toy.   
  
Keeping with the daily routine; Ella picked up dirty dishes from this morning’s breakfast and settled them down in the kitchen sink that was a few feet away in the other room, leaving her daughter to play by herself with all her stuffed animals. A few minutes of cleaning dishes, Ella took notice the house became eerily quiet. She couldn’t hear her daughter’s ramblings towards her toys or the TV that seemed to always be on. Her body froze in fear when she glanced at the kitchen light above her as it began to flicker rapidly.   
  
Something wasn’t right when that happened, she remembered that from her old life–what her parents drilled down her throat, the fear that they brainwashed her to believe to keep her safe.   
  
No, it was just a faulty wire her husband forgot to fix after she asked him a million times. Right?   
  
But that protective mind of hers, it wouldn’t let her think of that. What if was something more? What if it was him? Her fingers slowly wrapped themselves around the wooden handle of a knife she was previously cleaning.   
  
“(Y/N)?” Ella called out, slowly pulling out the knife and dropping it to her side. She looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was behind there, but she was alone. Blood was pumping faster in her body as anger began to crawl inside.   
  
She thought she had more time, eight years to be exact. Or, perhaps it was someone else from her past. But…how had they found her? She was so careful in her deal to make sure this would never happen. Somehow if it was coming true, she knew one thing for sure. Ella wasn’t going down without a fight.   
  
As she slowly eased up towards the kitchen entrance, she pressed her back against the wall. She took a moment to quiet her breathing while trying her hardest to hear over the sound of her heart pounding inside her ears. Ella took one final breath of courage before jumping out from the corner to see the attacker.   
  
“Boo!” Instead of seeing a stranger, Ella’s eyes landed on her husband, Andrew, and their daughter. She was sitting on his shoulders, pretending to growl as her fingers mimicked claws, scratching the air.   
  
“Jesus Andrew, you scared me!” Ella exclaimed. The knife Ella was holding dropped to the floor with a dull thud. Her hand shot up and rested on her jumping heart. “How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?”   
  
Andrew laughed at his wife’s response. He placed their daughter back on the floor and went over to comfort Ella. He walked behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulled her close towards his chest. “It was your darling daughter’s idea.” He muttered into the crook of her neck as he planted kisses on her cheeks all the way down to her shoulder blades. “I’m just the one that goes along with the plans.”   
  
“Ew, daddy cooties!” (Y/N) shouted as she pretended to make gagging noises, finding it icky that her parents constantly showed affection towards one another right in front of her.   
  
Andrew stuck his neck out from behind his wife, he curiously looked at his daughter and smiled. “What was that? You want some Daddy cooties too, (Y/N)?” He slowly started walking to her, his arms stretched out. She screamed out in delight as she began to runaway, Andrew quickly followed behind as they laughed.   
  
Ella sighed and smiled to herself, it seemed that she wasn’t raising just one toddler. Her husband at times could unleash their inner child himself. But that is what she loved about him the most. Because no matter what happened, he found a way to make her laugh and forget about her worries that always seem to fill her mind. She picked up the knife and walked back towards the kitchen, she dropped it back in the sink without having anyone notice.   
  
As she dried off her hands with a dish towel, the doorbell rang as it echoed through out the home. Ella walked to the front door, managing to dodge the two still running around. She peeked through the side window to see it was Mary, her next door neighbor.   
  
She opened the door and smiled, her eyes quickly dropping down to the small boy standing on Mary’s side. He politely smiled and peaked inside the house. “Hello, Dean,” Ella greeted. She knew exactly what he was looking for. She stepped out of the way for him to head inside. “(Y/N) is in the living room with her father.”   
  
Dean glanced up for an approving look from his mother Mary, she just smiled and nodded her head. He quickly bolted inside and headed for his friend causing both of the women to laugh at his enthusiasm.   
  
“It’s been a while since the both of have had the chance to see each other.” Ella commented, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched the two kids begin playing together. She observed at how her daughter giggled when Dean pretended to fall down after she lightly pushed him. “(Y/N), make sure to play nice!” She shouted before looking back at Mary.   
  
“Thank you for watching Dean on such a short notice.” Mary said. She twisted her hands in nervousness. Ella was quick to notice, she placed her palm on top and squeezed tightly. “I just wanted to be cautious before telling the news to John. You know…if it’s even true at all. I don’t want to get our hopes up. I mean, it’s only been a few months since I had Sam. And even he was a struggle.”   
  
Ella nodded, understanding the mix of excitement and nervousness that Mary had been feeling about a possible third child, but fearing the worst. Ella had trouble conceiving; it took her years and a handful of miscarriages, but she found a way to have her only daughter. Even if it was going against everything she had grown believe, she had to do it.   
  
“Don’t worry honey, everything is going to be fine.” Ella reassured the woman with a bright smile.   
  
Mary swallowed the fear and smiled once more. She quickly stepped inside the house to say goodbye to her eldest son, calling out his name as it echoed through the home. She watched as her son came running up, stopping in the stretch out arms of is mother. Dean muttered a goodbye as she pressed a kiss towards his forehead before him letting rush off and play with his friend once more.   
  
Ella closed the front door after watching Mary safely drive away until she couldn’t be seen anymore. She turned her head and looked at the two playing kids. All though she thought that things were going to be okay, something didn’t feel quite right in her gut. It twisted and knotted like something bad was going to happen.   
  
No, she tried to tell herself, nothing like that is going to happen.   
  
She shrugged off the feeling and headed to play with the little kids in the living room for the rest of the afternoon. The worries soon were left behind, all though, not for very long.   
  


* * *

  
After spending the day chasing around two little kids and having a nice dinner, Ella was ready to call it a night. She watched (Y/N) play in the bathtub with her little rubber ducks and old plastic toys. In the mist of her playing, a yawn escaped her lips.  
  
“Looks like someone is ready for bed.” Ella smiled, leaning over to the counter to grab a towel. A mumble of groans and whines followed as she stepped out of the water and had the fabric wrap around her body. “We can’t have you shrivel up into a giant prune, love. Then who’s gonna plan all those secret attacks on Daddy?” Ella whispered, a grin placed on her lips.  
  
The little girl tried to giggle, but the only thing that came out was a loud yawn. She tried to conceal it as Andrew stepped into the bathroom, looking at the both of them with his eyebrows arched up. “Are you planning with the enemy?” He pretended to be angry, rushing inside the bathroom and scooping up his daughter into his arms. He kissed her cheeks repeatedly as she giggled , beginning for him to stop.  
  
“Let’s go Monkeys, both of you are up way passed your bedtime.” Ella said, pushing her husband playfully on the back and followed behind as they all went into (Y/N)’s bedroom.  
  
Andrew set his daughter on the twin sized bed and headed over towards her dresser. She quietly stood upon it with the towel still wrapped around her body, watching her parents search for pajamas to wear for the night. Drawers were being opened and closed, but nothing could be found. Ella sighed and remembered, she she did laundry on these days. She must have forgotten in the mist of taking care of the two children. They settled on nestling (Y/N) into an old flannel shirt of Andrew’s. The little girl didn’t seem to mind at all.  
  
(Y/N) settled into the sheets and begged for a bedtime story, her parents sighed and looked at each other. “Not tonight sweetheart, you and Dean pooped us out.” Andrew said. “I’ll read you two bedtime stories tomorrow night, same time. Deal?”  
  
“Deal!” (Y/N) shouted, feeling her father’s lips brush against her forehead before he said a quick goodnight, heading off towards the other bedroom.  
  
She watched her mother got up from the bed and did the normal nighttime routine. She closed her window and turned on her nightlight, the only thing that kept away the monsters from underneath the bed. She went back towards the bed and joined her daughter once more.  
  
“All right love, we’re all settled in. The windows are locked and the nightlight is on so no monsters will sneak in.” Ella tucked the sheets tighter around her daughter’s body and smiled. “Daddy and I are going to bed too. If you need anything, we’ll be in our bedroom. Good night and I love you.”  
  
She kissed her daughter on the forehead and got up from the bed. As she reached to turn out the lights, she took one last look before letting the room go dark and close the door behind her.  
  
(Your Point of View.)  
  
Something didn’t feel right when you woke up. You didn’t know what time it was, all you knew that it was still dark out. You laid in bed with your fingers wrapped tightly around your favorite stuffed animal as you contemplated on peeking around your bedroom to see if there was any monsters around. Taking a deep breath, you quickly pulled down the sheets to see the room was empty like you presumed.  
  
You shivered as a slight breeze swept across the room. Turning your head slightly, you saw that your window was wide open. That was strange, you remembered your mother closing it before she went to bed. You snuggled deeper into your father’s shirt, the smell of his cologne lingered as it have you a sense of safety.  
  
Still, there was something that made you feel uneasy about staying in your own bedroom for the night. You clutched your stuffed animal as you pulled off the sheets and quickly ran towards the bedroom door. You turned the knob and opened the door, ready to bolt for the room across the hall.  
  
But a tall figure stood in the doorway, blocking you from getting anywhere. You screamed in terror, but a familiar voice shushed you as the body stepped inside your bedroom. You saw from your nightlight that your mother was the stranger.  
  
“Mommy, I’m scared. I think there is a monster inside my bedroom.” You whimpered as you clutched her legs.  
  
She softly shushed you as she bent down and picked you up. She clutched you to her chest, resting her chin in your hair. “It’s okay honey, you’re fine.” She muttered as she tried to quiet down her sobs that escaped.  
  
“Can Daddy check for the monsters? He always does.” You whined out, but she clutched you tighter when you mentioned your father as her sobs became a bit more noticeable. She mumbled a simple no, but that didn’t seem good enough.  
  
You cried for your mother to put you down so you can have your father check. You banged your tiny fists on her shoulders and kicked hard enough. Somehow you squirmed out of her arms and dropped towards the carpet, landing on both feel. You ran as you heard her plead for you not to go into the room, running after you, but you were faster.  
  
Quickly you pushed the door open and headed for the left side where your father was sleeping. You yelled for your father to wake up, but his eyelids didn’t once blink. You tried pushing and punching his body, anything to get him to do something. But he just laid there.  
  
  
You turned your head and looked at your mother, “Why isn’t Daddy waking up?” You asked as tears began to prick your eyes. “Did something happen to him?”  
  
Your mother didn’t say anything. She just wrapped her arms around your tiny body and buried her face in the crook of your neck. The last thing you remembered of that night was the sound of sirens screeching up your driveway and your mother’s tears that stained your skin. 

* * *

 

Left. Right. Left. Right. Take a deep breath in, and slowly let it out.   
  
The mantra repeated itself inside your mind through the sounds of your feet hitting the dirt road and the music flowing out from your ear buds. You pumped your arms as you tried to push your legs into a faster motion. You kept reminding yourself that the finish line was almost there. The trees were beginning to open up further so you could see the empty field of grass and a stretch of concrete sidewalk.   
  
You turned your head up to gaze at the October morning sky. Sunlight peaked through the cracks of red and orange leaves that still clung towards the branches. A perfectly blue sky was painted above without a cloud in sight. You sighed to yourself with delight, wishing to yourself that you could start off every morning like this. All though, you could do without the mandatory running schedule you put yourself on just a few months ago to get yourself in shape. What were you thinking at the time?   
  
Acres of green grass began to show as you slowly dropped your speed towards a brisk walk when your sneakers stepped on the sidewalk. You looked around to see the park was filled with a handful of other people that were running or enjoying the sunlight. Your eyes happened to land upon a group of three children; two boys and a girl. They were taking turns in throwing themselves in a huge leaf pile. You felt your lips twitch into a small smile at the memory that crossed your mind.   
  
You remembered that fall afternoon when you were four years old, playing in the backyard with your two best friends—the Winchester brothers. Dean was six and Sam just turned two years old. Off in the distance, your mother was talking to the boy’s father John, like usual when the brothers came over. But something didn’t feel right in the atmosphere when you looked over at them speaking. Their faces were sketched with tension as they exchanged heavy words. It took you almost twenty years to realize that it was the conversation that changed your entire life.   
  
John wanted to seek revenge on his late wife, your mother wanted to keep the family that she had left safe from the life she walked away from. Both of them never really saw eye to eye on many things, John would tell you, especially what was the right method to raise their children. He wanted to prepare them for the worst, she wanted you away from the monsters she had grown to fear. She had seen what the lifestyle has done to others, she didn’t want that for you.   
  
That was also same day that your mother told you that the both of you were moving away from Kansas. “It’s not safe here, these walls and streets have too many bad memories.” Your mother simply told you before you were to sleep in your bedroom for the last time. “Your new home will be a fresh start for the both of us.”   
  
She made you say goodbye towards your first pair of best friends you’ve ever had. But she promised you that your new life was going to be filled with so many different people that in time the boys would just be a distant memory. You were so angry with her saying that, you didn’t speak to her for a week after all of you settled into your new home. All though, as the years went on by, you slowly forgot about Sam and Dean as you made new friends and focused your attention on school. But you never really forgot about them, you swore you would recognize them if you had seen them at any point of your life, and sure enough, you did.   
  
Everything from your mother’s past was beginning to look like it would never catch up to her again. All the years of running and hoping that you wouldn’t find out about the other side of life, it almost looked like she was in the clear. Almost was the key word.   
  
You were in your junior year of high school when you found out about the supernatural creatures that lurked in the distance. You had gotten home from school when you noticed something was out of place. The first thing that tipped you off was the front door left wide open, something that your mother would never have done, being the cautious woman that she was.   
  
You wandered around the house, calling your mother’s name to see where she was. You finally found her in standing with her back to you, looking out her bedroom window that overlooked the front of the house. You would find her standing there when you were running late from school, that day was no exception. But as you called her name one more time, she finally responded–just not in the way you were expecting.   
  
“Why do they always run?” She asked in a monotone, her head slightly turned so you could only see the side of her face. “It makes me angry when they run. Do you know what happens when I get angry, Y/N?” Your mother was speaking, but it didn’t sound like her. All the warmth in her voice was placed with a cold tone that sent a shiver down your spine. When she turned her head, you felt a gasp spill out of your mouth at what you saw.   
  
Deep red cut marks were spread across her face and neck, it was as if she had gone mad, clawing at her own skin and ripped the flesh. There was too many to count, all though you stared at her with fright. But the thing that kept your attention was those glowing, yellow eyes. They stared at you with curiosity, drinking up everything about your features.   
  
You wanted to run and hide, but something was keeping your feet pinned to the ground. She looked at you with a smirk as she slowly approached you and began circling you, like a predator waiting to jump its prey. This wasn’t the woman that you knew and loved. It was a monster using her body like a stress toy.   
  
“Do you wanna know why I did this to your pretty mother’s face?” She was now inches from you, that twisted smirk still stretched across her face. You clenched your jaw and said nothing, trying your hardest to wrap your mind on what was happening. “Each cut is a year she tried to run from me.”   
  
She pulled down the collar of her shirt with those blood soaked fingers. Your eyes landed on six cuts that were deeper than the rest. They dragged up from her chest towards her collarbone, inches from her throat. You counted three on each side of her body. It was like they were perfectly spaced into groups of two, if she did them all at once. You whimpered at the sight and looked away, biting your bottom lip to keep you from crying. But her free hand wrapped around your jaw, the nails digging into the skin as she roughly turned your head so you were looking into those eerily yellow eyes again   
  
“These cuts,” She hissed in a breathy tone. Her bloody fingertips that were wrapped around the edge of the shirt, now traced the deeper wounds. “Are for the six extra years she added to her deal without my permission. Do you know what that is, sweetheart, a deal?”   
  
“What the hell are you?” You growled between clenched teeth, tears pricking your eyes. She just smiled again and laughed. “Your worst nightmare.”   
  
You didn’t know what happened after that, all you remember was waking up on the carpet floor with two pairs of very familiar looking green eyes staring at you. It took you a few moments to realize that they belonged to none other than Sam and Dean Winchester. They were teenagers at the time; Dean eighteen and Sam just only fourteen years old. But you recognized their childlike features; Dean’s freckles that were scattered across his nose and upper cheekbones, Sam’s curious eyes that always seemed to soften when someone was sad.  Their father wasn’t far behind from them, his body was standing over something that you couldn’t see. He still looked the same after fourteen years, but more rougher around the edges, stressed.   
  
You muttered out question after question of what was happening. Mostly about what were they doing here after so many years. Their eyes glanced upon you, glazed over with sadness. It made you realize that everything you witnessed wasn’t a nightmare, it was all true. John turned just enough to see your mother’s limp arm on the floor, the blood stained her skin. It took you a moment to realize she was dead. You screamed so loud that you swore even Hell could hear the echo before you broke down crying.   
  
Eight years later and you still wake up from the nightmare, drenched in sweat and a sore throat from screaming. Part of you wondered why you didn’t take John’s offer to stay with him and the boys. Having a life on the road and hunting down the monster that killed your mother while they found what killed Mary–It seemed so simple at the time.   
  
But your mother thought that she was doing the right thing for you, sheltering you from all the things that go bump in the night. The irony of the situation always made you wince when you thought about it. What she was doing the wrong thing to protect you made your entire life crumble down and forced you back up with a new fear that you thought ended when you grew up to realize that monsters aren’t real, but they were very much so. Demons, spirits and other kinds of evil alike. Oh, my!   
  
John had done the opposite for his family; fear was the only thing that he had to keep him going to fight for another day. He picked up the boys and started his new life a little while after your mother moved you. He taught them everything about hunting and how to protect themselves. And look how things turned out. You still cringed at that thought.   
  
A beeping hummed in the distance that caused you to lose focus on the three little kids. You peeked at your watch to see the alarm had gone off. You smiled to yourself in victory. You had  beaten your personal best by a solid minute. Reaching up to wipe away the sweat that began to collect on your forehead, your face scrunched up from the foul smell that began to roll of you from your intense workout.   
  
“I need a shower and breakfast.” You grumbled. As you began to walk back towards your house, the daunting thought of hours of research and empty halls crept back into your mind. It was lonely, that was for sure.   
  
You haven’t seen the brothers or John in a good few weeks, something that you should have gotten used to, after all, you weren’t a teenager anymore and they needed to do their work. But you couldn’t help yourself but worry about all of them from time to time. It was just the motherly instinct inside of you that wouldn’t stop when it came to the boys.   
  


* * *

  
Once you got home, you headed upstairs and went straight to take a shower. You stripped off your dirty work out clothes and blasted your favorite music, the usual routine to get ready for the day. That was one of the only perks of living alone in this big house. You could play your music as loud as you wanted and nobody would complain. Of course, your neighbors couldn’t hear in general.  
  
They were a sweet old couple with a set of faulty hearing aids. Each time you tried to talk to them when they stopped you on the street, they ended up yelling at one another because they couldn’t understand what the other one was saying. You would just politely smile and slowly walk away, letting them argue and forget about your presence.  
  
You got yourself cleaned up in the shower by using your favorite shampoos and body wash. After washing away the soap, you stepped out from the warm water and wrapped your body with a cotton towel to dry off. After doing your normal grooming routine, you finally settled yourself on getting dressed. You thought of today’s chores that needed to be done. It was mostly just cleaning, running around to do some errands and then spending the rest of the day doing research for a case John had been working on for the past few weeks.  
  
As you reached for a shirt, the sound of floorboards creaking down the hall caused you to stop. You stood quiet for a few moments until the sounds echoed throughout the house again. You reached for a random shirt and jeans, throwing them on as your mind began to frantically think of worse outcomes. You looked around your bedroom for a weapon to protect you. Your eyes landed on your wooden bat that you kept for emergencies like this. Well, this would just have to do.  
  
You took a deep breath as you quietly walked towards your bedroom door that was opened just a small crack, but it wasn’t enough for you to sweep out the second floor. Your hand slowly pushed it open until there was enough space for you to sneak out and investigate the noise without being noticed. It’s nothing, you tried to tell yourself. The wind probably blew hard enough to make the house creek. It was an old thing that you wondered how it was still standing.  
  
You stood there for a few seconds, the house was nothing but silence. You put your bat down and let out a sigh of annoyance. It’s official, you’re going crazy. As you turned around to walk back into your bedroom, a figure jumped from the guest bedroom and screamed at you.  
  
“Boo!” The voice boomed at you, causing you to lose your balance.  
  
Like a fool, you stumbled backwards and lost your footing, landing on your backside. It only was a few moments later you noticed the figure was a man you knew too well as he began to laugh at your clumsy behavior.  
  
“Goddamn it, Dean! Are you trying to kill me?” You scowled, putting your hand on your rapidly beating heart. The oldest Winchester only laughed harder before he mumbled an apology, putting out a hand for you to grab. You just slapped it away and helped yourself up.  
  
“I’m sorry, Y/N. I didn’t mean to scare you so easily.” Dean tried to say with a straight face, all though you could see his lips twitching as he held back a smile.  
  
You rolled your eyes and slapped him again. “You’re worse than your brother, I swear.” You muttered with an eye roll. “What are you doing here, anyway? Your Dad checked up on a few weeks ago. Everything’s fine on the home front, as per usual.” But you watched as his face slowly began to stretch into distress at the news, it was as if that’s what he didn’t want to hear. “Is everything okay with him?” You asked, your tone becoming softer.  
  
He didn’t say anything for a few seconds as he dodged your question with another. “Have you heard from Sam? I’ve been trying to call him all week, but he hasn’t picked up his phone.” He said. You shook your head. You didn’t want to be apart of this game of endless phone tag with you ending up playing the messenger for the players that didn’t want to the bigger person and end this little feud that was dragging out for almost two years.  
  
You knew the Winchester brothers’ relationship was nothing more than petty tension that could end with one another realizing that not everyone was going to think alike. Dean chose the family business to help people, Sam wanted to go to college to further his education. Somehow the oldest didn't want to accept that his little brother wanted a bit of normalcy in his life. And the other thought that his big brother was being a spineless, perfect  son that their father raised them to be. You refused to take sides; claiming your neutrality in this childish war of seeing how long they could go without picking up the ringing phone.  
  
“Come on, Y/N! This is serious.“ Dean’s tone of voice was almost pleading, something that you knew he never liked to do, only in emergencies. "Have you heard from him or not?”  
  
“I talked to him for a few hours last night, what does this have to do with anything?” You asked with curiosity. He still was quiet, you rolled your eyes and sighed. “Dean Winchester, what aren't you telling me?”  
  
“Are you sure you haven’t you heard from my dad?” Dean quickly asked. You shook your head no, he sighed and looked the other way. You could see the worry creep back into his green eyes. “It’s been a while since anyone has heard from him.”  
  
“What’s so unusual about it? Your dad can go months without talking to someone. You know how he gets on certain cases.” You said, “He just gets sucked in and forgets about the people around him.” Dean rolled his eyes at you, causing you to realize what you said. Guilt began to creep into you. “That’s not what I meant—”  
  
Dean stopped you, nodding his head. “I know, I know. But this time it’s different. This is the longest it’s been since anyone heard from him, including you. Are you sure you haven’t heard from him?” You shook your head no, Dean rubbed and hand over his face and let out a breath he’d been holding in. “Okay, thanks again Y/N.” And just like that, he turned around and began walking to the staircase.  
  
“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to tell me?” You found yourself saying, causing Dean to stop in his tracks and look at you with confusion. “Why do you always leave me in the dark when it comes to situations like this? I hate feeling helpless when one of you guys get into trouble or go ‘missing.’ How come I can’t tag along?”  
  
“Because Y/N, it’s for—” Dean began with the same speech you’ve heard a thousand times. You rolled your eyes and cut him off in a mocking tone. “—’Your own good. We only want to keep your safe.’ I know, I know.”  
  
Dean was quiet for a few moments, he thought about something and looked back at you. He opened his mouth to speak, but he just shook his head and threw his hands up in defeat. “I have a possible lead where he could be. If it doesn’t go through, I’m taking your ass right back here.” He mumbled underneath his breath. “Go pack a bag, you’ve got five minutes before I change my mind. I’ll be waiting for you in the car.”  
  
You felt your lips stretch into a smile as you began shouting thank yous. You ran into your closet and pulled out  duffel bag, throwing it on your bed. You began to throw random clothes and personal items into it, making a mental note of what you needed the most. You made sure to grab your laptop, you never went anywhere without it. Zipping up the bag and tossing the strap over your shoulder, you quickly slipped on a pair of shoes and a jacket.  
  
You ran downstairs with the duffel bag and house keys jingling in your palm. You made sure to turn off all the lights and sorts before taking one last peak around the house. It’s only for a few days, you kept telling yourself. You and Dean would find John probably held up in some Motel room. Then you would be right back where you belonged.  
  
You aren’t a hunter, you told yourself. And you never will be. 

* * *

 

You sat in the passenger seat of the Impala while Dean was loading your belongings inside the trunk. You could hear him complaining about the stuff you were bringing and how heavy the bags were. It was only going to be for the weekend or why do girls pack so much? He kept muttering to himself like you couldn’t hear him with the passenger window cracked all the way down. You rolled your eyes and looked around the car, eyeing the interior with delight. You still didn’t know how John allowed his oldest son to take care of Baby. She was something special that had so many memories for the family, you thought Dean would be his last choice.   
  
Curiously looking down, your eyes spotted a cardboard box that you haven’t seen before. You pulled it up towards your lap to see the contents were old cassette tapes. As you began to flip through them, there was a few familiar names that popped out at you. You had to admit his collection was well outdated from your genre taste. It seems that he was given more than just the beloved Impala from his father. You saw a very familiar tape and checked it out, a smile spread across your face as memories began to fill your mind of the days spent blasting this particular band when both of your parents were alive. The innocent ones, you called them sometimes.   
  
“My dad would be going crazy right now if he saw this.” You smirked while lifting up the tape you were just examining. You looked up to see Dean was now sitting inside the driver’s seat and looking at the object you were  holding. “All these oldies. And this freakin’ car.” You mumbled as your eyes glanced at the inside details again, drinking up everything with delight.   
  
“They’re not oldies, they’re classic.” Dean corrected you while plucking the tape out of your hands and putting it back into the box. He shoved it back underneath your seat, obviously annoyed with your opinion. You laughed at how offended he acted, as if you had dissed his lifestyle that he was so found of.   
  
“Whatever. Just don’t be blasting it too loud while we’re driving to Jericho.” You mumbled, adjusting yourself in the seat when you heard the engine kick on. You turned your head to look at Dean when the car still remained parked in your driveway after a few moments. “We are just going there, right?”   
  
He answered you after pulling out of the driveway and headed down the street .“I want to make a quick stop at Stanford.” You scoffed at his predictable behavior. Dean wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted, like always. He had this way of luring everyone to do the beat of his command.   
  
“I think you’re a little late to sign up for winter classes.” You retorted. But his silence had confirmed what you had silently feared, he was dragging you into this fight that you tried to avoid for two long years. “He’s not going to help you. You know that, right?”   
  
“He’s my brother. You don’t know him that well.” Dean grumbled out. You sighed, shaking your head at his ignorant statement that he tried to throw at you to keep you quiet.   
  
“He’s got college to worry about, Dean.” You reminded him. “He’s happy pulling all nighters on exams and doing hours of homework. And he’s got an amazing girlfriend he’s totally head over heels for. Don’t step back into his life and demand for him to leave it all because you told him to.”   
  
“He has a girlfriend?” Dean asked. He looked away from the road for a few moments to give you a curious look, an eyebrow arched up for added effect.  “What’s her name?”   
  
“Jessica. And I think he wants to marry her.” You mumbled. While you spilled all the personal information, why not a bit more? You adjusted yourself in your seat again before throwing a threatening glare in Dean’s direction. “If you tell him I told you that I swear, I will gut you like a fish and hang you out to dry.”   
  
Dean just laughed off your threat and reached to turn on the radio. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” You rolled your eyes, playfully punching him in the arm. Both of you sat in silence for the rest of the car ride to Stanford with the familiar rock music to keep you company.   
  


* * *

  
Darkness had fallen a just a few hours before when both of you finally arrived at the apartments provided on Stanford grounds. Your eyes wandered around the place as you stood outside of the car. Part of you wanted to go to college but it wasn’t so appealing when you thought of sitting inside a huge room while a professor rambled on for an hour about a mandatory subject you didn’t care about. What you were doing seemed satisfying enough. At least you could help save a life with what you chose to do.   
  
“We can’t exactly go knocking on his door.” You pointed out as Dean walked by your side. “It’s late and he’s probably sleeping. Why don’t we just swing by in the morning.”   
  
“I have a better idea.” Dean grinned as he started heading over to the buildings.   
  
You clenched your jaw and let out a sigh of annoyance. “Hopefully something that doesn’t end in us sitting in jail for breaking and entering?” You guessed. Dean just smirked as he grabbed your wrist and pulled you along with him.   
  
Both of you headed to the apartment building and climbed a few sets of staircases. You mentally began thanking yourself now for all the morning runs you made yourself do once you made it to the floor Sam was staying at. As you headed to the apartment, you thought of something.   
  
“What are you gonna do? Pick the lock and hold a knife to his throat while he’s sleeping to see what happens?” You joked as both stopped at the apartment door.   
  
Dean frowned and rolled his eyes. “No, that’s a stupid idea.” He walked over to a window that was a few feet away from the door. You gave him a look as you opened your mouth to protest. He put a finger to his lips to hush you, a sigh escaped your lips at his plan.   
  
You watched as he slowly started to open the window with just enough room for the both of you to sneak in. Dean entered first, slipping through the crack head first until his feet vanished. You stepped to the window and placed your hands on the window’s ledge. You gave Dean a nervous look, still not sure if you wanted to be apart of this. He ushered you to come inside, you took a deep breath in and kicked your left foot in first, which you were beginning to realize wasn't the brightest way to sneak in.   
  
The sound of something breaking echoed in your ears as you felt Dean grab a hold of your wrist and roughly tug the rest of your body inside. You remembered that Sam was a light sleeper, which meant that he was probably woken up from your clumsiness and headed out to check the noise.   
  
You cursed at yourself when you heard the sounds of floorboards creaking as you saw a large shadow beginning to approach you. But you  noticed a slightly shorter shadow creep behind the other one. Counting down in your head, you waited until you heard the sound of grunts and kicks to know exactly what Dean had in mind for Sam. It seemed that big brother was going to put the other one into a test to see what he remembered. You hid to see the fight unfold in the shadows.   
  
Dean lunged at Sam from behind, getting him off guard, you noted a good move to pull. The younger brother pulled his attacker from behind and tried to throw a punch, which Dean blocked. It was hard to see in the night to see exactly what was going on. All you heard was grunts and groans from punches and kicks being thrown or blocked. Both of them were getting into it now, not exactly showing who would win this round. But it was a few seconds later until you saw Sam’s body fall to the ground with Dean on top of him, his brother’s hand hovering over his throat.   
  
“Whoa, easy, tiger.” Dean taunted his little brother, a grin spread across his lips.   
  
“Dean?” Sam exclaimed in surprise. “You scared the crap out of me.”   
  
“That’s ‘cause you’re out of practice.” Dean pointed out.   
  
Sam threw up his leg and kicked Dean in the head, getting him off guard while  was distracted. You watched as the two brothers switch positions, Sam leaning over Dean’s body with his hand closed around his throat, pinning him to the floor   
  
“Guess not,” Dean chuckled before getting angry and growling for Sam to get off him.   
  
You watched as Sam pulled his brother to his feet, you quietly stepped out from where you were hiding, deeming it a good time to make your presence known. A small smile spread across your lips when you felt his eyes drop to your level. “Hey Sammy, long time no see, right?”   
  
“What the hell are you two doing here?” Sam questioned. He gave the both of you a look that was a cross between confusion and worry. You really should have called him to give him a heads up about what his brother had planned and not that nap during the road trip.   
  
“Y/N was begging for me to take her to meet the future Mrs. Winchester and I was looking for a beer.” Dean joked, softly nudging you in the side with his elbow. You gave him the dirtiest glare you could muster, he swallowed nervously and smiled again at Sam.   
  
“You’re such an ass.“ You mumbled underneath your breath, rolling your eyes at him.   
  
“Just admit it. You’ve got a thing for my charm and wits.” He said, trying to use that tone of voice that was an attempt at a flirtatious one. It always made you laugh at his petty attempts to bring you back into a better mood. You swallowed a smile and tried to shove him, but compared to his height and your tiny body, you found yourself stumbling backwards slightly.   
  
The lights flickered on as all your heads turned to see a blonde woman calling Sam’s name. You noted that it was Jess, you politely smiled at her and waved. She gave you and Dean a strange look. Of course, what else would she do when two strangers show up in the middle of the night? Dean just stared at her with his mouth slightly wide open, obviously pleased at what he saw, she was quite a pretty woman. You even had to admit that to yourself.   
  
“Uh, Jess, hey.” Sam looked at his girlfriend and nervously smiled. “Dean, Y/N, this is my girlfriend, Jessica. Jess, this is my brother Dean and friend Y/N.”   
  
“Wait, your brother Dean?” She questioned as she looked at both of you with a warm smile. “And Y/N, it’s nice to finally meet you. Sam’s told me a lot about you two.”   
  
“Hopefully it’s all good things.” You joked. “But it was nice to meet you, also. Sorry for disturbing the both of you at this ungodly hour. But it’s an emergency, right, Dean?”   
  
But he ignored you. Dean’s finger pointed at Jess’s night shirt, his lips stretched into a smile at the possible conversation starter. “I love the smurfs.” He said, taking a few steps towards the woman. You shook your head, watching as the moment was ruined by his big mouth. “You know, I got to tell you…you’re completely out of my brother’s league.”   
  
Shaking your head, you decided to intervene at this awkward conversation before it could get any worse. You walked up and stood right next to Dean, your fingers wrapping around the edge of the sleeve of his jacket. “I’m sorry, he gets stupid in front of pretty girls.” You joked, yanking him backwards as warning. “Do you mind if we talk to Sam in private?”   
  
“It’s important family business stuff.” Dean added, walking backwards so he was now standing next to you. “But..it was nice meeting you, Jess.”   
  
Sam looked at the two of you for a few moments, his response wasn't what you expected from the logical thinker. “No.” He walked over and stood next to Jess, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Whatever you want to say, you can say in front of her.”   
  
You clenched your jaw in anger, this was what you had feared. Sam was being a stubborn little brat. Dean still remained calm, he tried to tell the truth without tipping off Jess. “Um, Dad hasn't been home in a few days.”   
  
“So he’s working overtime on a ‘miller time’ shift. He’ll stumble back home sooner or later.” Sam remarked with a bit of sass in his voice.   
  
“Sam, your dad has been on a hunting trip. And he hasn’t been home in a few days.” You repeated what Dean just said, but in a more serious tone. “We’re getting a little worried about him. I think you should be, too.”   
  
Sam’s mood changed in the blink of an eye. He excused the three of you outside, leaving his girlfriend alone for the time being. The brothers had some much needed catching up to do. You guys began walking downstairs as Sam began lecturing the both of you about breaking in during the middle of the night. You followed behind and listened as the two of them began to banter on about the situation that all of you were faced with. The brothers brought up different points of what action to take, in order to find their father. And both kept trying to show the other which idea to take action was better than the other.   
  
“Do you remember the poltergeist in Amherst? Or the Devil’s Gates in Clifton?” Sam questioned, making different points his brother seemed to keep forgetting. “He was missing then, too. He’s always missing, and he’s always fine.”   
  
Dean stopped in his tracks so he could give his brother an annoyed look. You clutched the banister to keep yourself from bumping into Sam. “Not for this long.” Dean corrected him. “Now, are you coming with me or not?”   
  
“I’m not.” Sam simply said.   
  
“Why not?” Dean questioned.   
  
“I swore I was done hunting for good.” Sam argued.   
  
“Come on, it wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t that bad.” Dean mumbled while starting to walk again.   
  
“Yeah?” Sam remarked, following behind. You rolled your eyes and quickly caught up with them.  “When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45.”   
  
“What was he supposed to do?” Dean asked.   
  
“I was nine years old. He was supposed to say ‘Don’t be afraid of the dark.’” Sam remarked.   
  
You had to wince at the thought of little Sammy being handed a loaded gun at a young age. You were suddenly thankful that your mother didn’t throw you into the lifestyle of hunting at their age. It was nice for a while to think that monsters were fictional.   
  
“Are you kidding me? You should be afraid. You know what’s out there.” Dean reminded his little brother. You rolled your eyes, knowing that he missed Sam’s point.   
  
“Still—they way we grew up after Mom was killed. And Dad’s obsession to find the thing that killed her, that killed Y/N’s mom.” Sam’s tone was getting harder now when he continued to speak about his bitter past. “But we still haven’t found a damn thing. So we kill everything we can find.”   
  
“You boys have saved a lot of lives.” You reminded Sam. He looked at you, scoffing at rolling his eyes. You frowned at his behavior.   
  
“You think Mom would have wanted this for us?” Sam asked, his eyes jumping to you. “Or Y/N’s mom would be happy that you dragged her daughter along with you?” You were about to defend yourself, but Dean just rolled his eyes and headed out to the parking lot.   
  
Both of you followed behind as Sam continued to point out the boys’ unusual childhood. “The weapon training and melting the silver into bullets? Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors.”   
  
“So what are you gonna do? Are you just gonna live some normal, apple-pie life? Is that it?” Dean questioned, his voice sounded hurt.   
  
“No, not normal.” Sam corrected his brother. “Safe.”   
  
“So that’s why you ran away.” Dean remarked, turning his head to look the other way.   
  
“I was just going to college. It was Dad who said if I wanted to go, I should stay gone.” Sam confessed. “And that’s what I’m doing.”   
  
“Dad’s in real trouble right now if he’s not dead already. I can feel it.” Dean said, you had to roll your eyes at how dramatic he was being. “I can’t do this alone.”   
  
You cleared your throat causing the two brothers to look at you. It seemed that they had forgotten about your presence. “Don’t you mean ‘Y/N and I can’t do this alone’?” You asked in an irritated voice. Dean shrugged his shoulders, mumbling a yeah. “Idiots.” You mumbled causing Sam to sigh in annoyance. You had right where you wanted him. And he knew there was no way.   
  
“What was he hunting?” Sam asked.

“Jesus Christ,” You found yourself saying as your eyes examined the many amounts of organized weapons and tools hidden away inside a secret compartment underneath the trunk of the Impala. You didn’t know if Dean was well equipped for this job or just another paranoid man waiting for the worst scenario to happen.   
  
Dean began to search around for something, mumbling a few words underneath his breath as Sam asked his brother why he didn’t tag along on their father’s hunting trip. You watched as it rolled out into a small bantering moment between the brothers, you let out a sigh of annoyance that went unnoticed. Dean finally found what he was looking for after a few moments; he pulled out several sheets of paper that looked to be printed out articles, you noted that they looked familiar to you.   
  
“So Dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago, this guy,” Dean handed over an article to Sam as he looked it over. “They found his car, but he’d vanished. Completely M.I.A.”   
  
“So maybe he was kidnapped.” Sam theorized, looking up at his brother again.   
  
“Wasn’t there more of these cases, like ten? They all spread out over the past twenty years.” You mumbled to yourself while grabbing the articles from Dean’s hand. You placed each one down as you looked over the dates of the disappearance.   
  
“Thank you Nancy Drew.” Dean grunted while ripping the last piece of paper out of Sam’s hands. “All men, all same five mile stretch of road.” You watched as Dean took something out and unfolded it. “Started happening more and more, so Dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. Y/N and I haven’t heard from his since, which is bad enough.” He then reached over and pulled out a tape recorder. “And then I get this voice mail a few days ago.”   
  
Dean pressed play as a voice you recognized  as their father filled the air, but it was somewhat distorted making it hard to understand what he was saying. “Dean, something is starting to happen. I think it’s serious. I need to try to figure out what’s going on.” There was a few moments that it became unclear. It was a few seconds until spoke up again. What you heard sent a bad shiver down your spine. “Be very careful Dean. We’re all in danger.”   
  
“You know there’s EVP on that?” Sam questioned.   
  
“Not bad, Sammy. Kind of like riding a bike, isn’t it?” Dean remarked, trying to attempt to lighten up the mood. Sam just shook his head. “All right. I slowed the message down and ran it through a GoldWave, took out the hiss and this is what I got.”   
  
There was a slight pause in the audio before a faint female voice that whispered, “I can never go home.”   
  
Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Dean stopped playing the message. It was quiet for another few moments until Sam repeated the woman, trying to make sense of what he heard. “Never go home.”   
  
You watched as the oldest Winchester closed the trunk, the tension slowly came back from the comment that came out of his mouth. “You know, in almost two years, I’ve never bothered you, never asked you for a thing.” Dean confessed as he leaned against the roof of the Impala.   
  
Sam let out a sigh, staying quiet for a few moments, trying to figure out what to say. He looked at his brother with a defeated look. “All right, I’ll go.” Sam gave in, nodding his head. “I’ll help you two find him. But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just wait here.”   
  
“What’s on Monday?” Dean curiously asked.   
  
Sam turned around and looked at the both of you. “I have an interview.”   
  
“What, a job interview? Skip it.” The oldest Winchester suggested.   
  
You rolled your eyes and leaned against the car next to Dean, a proud smile spread across your lips when you told him the news. “Not that kind. Sammy has an interview for a law school.”   
  
“And it’s my whole future on a plate.” Sam confessed. You could tell Dean was a little surprised at what his brother had been doing with his free time. He was serious about getting himself away from the lifestyle that he was supposed to grow up and love. “So we got a deal or not?”   
  
Dean didn’t say anything, just nodding his head as his brother walked into the apartment buildings, vanishing from your sight. Both of you stood in a comfortable silence for a few moments until Dean turned his head to look down at you.   
  
“Why are you really here?” Dean questioned out of the blue. You looked at him at him with a confused look, not sure of how to respond towards that kind of personal information. He nodded towards the building where Sam was staying at. “You can still be like Sam, you know. I could drop you back off and forget everything about us. About the hunting, the supernatural.”   
  
There he went again, Dean trying to persuade you, like always, to get away from this lifestyle. Even though all you did was hours of research for the family, he still felt like he was putting you in danger. “I know Ella would have wanted it that way.” He muttered underneath his breath, thinking that you couldn’t hear him.   
  
You clenched your jaw at the thought of your mother. She never wanted you thinking about the supernatural world or even associating yourself with the Winchester boys ever again. But here you were, about to go against everything she raised to believe.   
  
“John once told me of how much my mother used to loved hunting. She said it made her feel like she was making a difference in the world.” You explained as you took a few steps away. “When you told me the news about your dad, I wanted to do something. But, you can’t exactly help find a missing person by sitting inside your house. Just waiting for that phone call to see if everything is okay.”   
  
You heard the sounds of footsteps approaching you as Dean sighed quietly to himself. It was a few moments until he spoke up again. “Y/N,” His voice was barely loud enough for you to hear. “This isn’t your battle to fight. It’s Sam and mine. ”   
  
“Do you forget sometimes that you’re not the only one who lost someone to a monster? I have my own reasons why I’m here, you don’t need to know them.” You asked, tilting your head to the side. “And I’m not a little girl anymore, Dean. I can sure as hell take care of myself without you bossing me around.”   
  
“One thing’s for sure,” Dean admitted while looking down at you. “You’ve got your mother’s way towards the blunt truth.” Dean sarcasm showed through as he placed a hand on his chest, pretending to become hurt at your words. You only rolled your eyes, playfully punching him in the arm, laughing as the tension slowly melted away again.   


* * *

  
The next morning you sat in the backseat of the Impala with your feet dangling out of the door, trying to stretch your sore muscles from sleeping at such an awkward position you were used to. Sam was in the passenger seat looking at the cassette tapes, commenting on how old they were and what not. You nodded occasionally. You kept drifting out of the conversation from lack of caffeine running through your body. That was the only thing that you didn’t like while driving on the road; your morning routine you’ve grown used to became all sorts of mixed up.   
  
You watched as Dean finally walked out of the store and headed towards the car. His hands were filled with what looked to be junk food and a styrofoam cup. Your lips stretched into a smile as he leaned over and handed the warm cup to you. “About time.” You muttered while snatching the bag of chips for an added bonus. Dean threw you a dirty look, you only smiled in victory.   
  
“So how’d you pay for that stuff? You and Dad still running credit-card scams?” Sam asked while picking up another tape and observing it.   
  
“Yeah, well, hunting ain’t exactly a pro-ball career.” Dean confessed. “Besides, all we do is apply. It’s not our fault they send us the cards.” You had to roll your eyes at his horrible sense of logic; breaking a law for his own benefit.   
  
“Yeah, and what names did you write on the application this time?” Sam questioned, throwing his feet back inside the car and slamming the door shut.   
  
“Uh…Bert Aframin and his son, Hector. Scored two cards out of the deal.” Dean said while getting inside the driver’s seat.   
  
“Sounds about right,” Sam remarked. His hands started going through the tapes again, you knew exactly what was going to come up next. The road trip music. “I swear, man, you got to update your cassette tape collection.”   
  
Dean just questioned why, you leaned your elbows on the seats and looked towards the tapes. “Well for one, they’re cassette tapes, dude.” You reminded, pulling out a chip from the bag and placed it in your mouth before Dean had the chance to rip it out of your hands. You frowned at his childish behavior.   
  
“And two,” Sam pulled out a tape, “Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica? It’s the greatest hits of mullet rock.” You couldn’t help yourself chuckle at the insult, nodding your head in agreement.   
  
“House rules, Y/N and Sammy—driver picks the music, passengers shut their cake hole.” Dean said while taking the tape out of his hands, throwing it back into the box and starting the engine.   
  
“Sammy is a chubby twelve year old. It’s Sam, okay?” Sam pleaded to his brother.   
  
Dean reached over and turned the volume on the radio up, drowning out the noises and pretending not to hear what his brother was saying. “Sorry I can’t hear you. The music’s too loud.” Dean shouted over the music.   
  
You leaned back into your seat and sighed to yourself. You wondered how much more you could take of the boys’ immature behavior before it would become too much. The engine roared as Dean drove all three out of the gas station and towards your next stop on the road.   
  


* * *

  
A few hours passed until the sign for Jericho passed, you watched as Sam got off the phone after spending almost an hour calling different places around town. “Alright, so there’s no one matching Dad at the hospital or morgue. So that’s something, I guess.” He mumbled while putting his phone away back into his pocket.   
  
“Something? I think that’s an improvement of this situation.” Both of the boys just looked at you with blank faces. You rolled your eyes. “Oh, sorry if I’m the only one who doesn’t want to end this hunt by helping you identify his body at the morgue.”   
  
It was a few minutes of silence of driving again until Dean spotted something suspicious on the left. The car headed up the road and stopped a while back. Your eyes landing on several police cars and neon yellow tape marking off a crime scene. You sighed to yourself, wondering what fool proof plan was running through Dean’s mind this time to get all of you access.   
  
You watched as he leaned over towards the glove compartment, pulling out a wooden box and setting it in his lap. When he opened it, you noticed it was filled with several badges, all fake from what you presumed. He handed one to Sam as he threw yours into your lap.   
  
You opened up the leather pouch to see your official badge as Federal Marshal. Even your photograph was placed in there. You sighed and looked up at Sam for an answer, he just gave you a shrug before following behind his brother, who was already out of the car and heading towards the crime scene.   
  
As the three of you headed up, you noticed two police officers were observing an abandoned car. Nothing looked suspicious from what you could take from the scene as you eased dropped on the conversation. There wasn’t any prints or blood left at the scene that could indicate a possible murder or kidnapping. It was as if the victim just vanished in thin air.   
  
“So this kid Troy—he’s dating your daughter, isn’t he?” The first police officer asked, leaning down to look at his partner who’s been investing the inside of the driver’s seat.   
  
“Yeah,” He said, “She’s been putting up missing posters downtown.”   
  
You watched as Dean walked up towards the officers with an arrogant stride, you hid the urged to roll your eyes, knowing that it wouldn’t be professional behavior for a fake marshal. You came closer towards the officer, glancing down at his badge while he wasn’t looking, Deputy Jaffe.   
  
“You had another one of these last month, didn’t you?” Dean spoke up, heading over towards the cops. You mentally prayed that Dean didn’t somehow to screw this up and blow your entire cover. You really didn’t feel like spending your time in county jail while he figured out a way to get all of you out of that bloody situation..   
  
Deputy Jaffe turned his attention away from the car and looked at the three of you. “And who are you?” He questioned with a curious face   
  
“Federal Marshals,” Dean informed, flashing his badge at the Deputy.   
  
“You three a little young for Marshals, aren’t you?” Deputy Jaffe wondered, scanning your faces with disbelief.   
  
Dean shrugged off the speculation and chuckled, “Thanks, that’s very kind of you.” He said with a smile. You sighed in relief as Dean headed towards the car, putting the attention back on the crime scene. “You did have another one just like this, correct?”   
  
“Yeah, that’s right, about a mile up the road. There had been others before that.” Deputy Jaffe explained.   
  
“So the victim, you knew him?” Sam jumped into the conversation, questioning the Deputy.   
  
“A town like this, everybody knows everybody.” Deputy Jaffe admitted.   
  
“Any connections towards the victims?” You asked, watching Dean inspect the car himself once the other Deputy walked away. Sam soon stepped in himself and began to join his brother in looking for possible evidence that the officers could have missed.   
  
“Besides that they’re all men?” Deputy Jaffe guessed, “No, not so far as we can tell.”   
  
“Have you come up with a theory for these vanishings?” You questioned, you tried to make yourself seem professional and yet interested in what he was saying.   
  
“Honestly, we don’t know—serial murder, kidnapping ring.” Deputy Jaffe pondered different theories. You nodded, it sounded reasonable enough, if you excluded the idea of the other possibility towards these disappearance. But they didn’t need to know, that’s what you and the boys were here for.   
  
Dean, being his sarcastic self, shined through making you stop in your tracks at what came tumbling out his mouth next. “Well, that is exactly the kind of crack police work I’d expect out of you guys.” Dean admitted. You watched as Sam stomped on his foot from his brother’s foolish comment a the officers of the law. Out of any moment to be rude to the cops, right now wasn’t the time.   
  
You stiffened back a laugh before composing yourself and looked at the Deputy with an apologetic face. “Please excuse my partner,” You lied with a smile, “This is his first time out on the field with us. We’re trying to see if his people skills improved from the last case I put him on.” You looked over at your shoulder at Dean before turning your attention back to the Deputy. “It seems that my suspicions were right, he’s not ready quite yet. He’s lacking…maturity.” You were getting good at this, you admitted to yourself   
  
“Thank you for your time,” Sam quickly said while smiling at the officers. “Gentlemen.”   
  
The three of you walked away from the scene, feeling Deputy Jaffe eyes on you with a confused glance, trying to wonder what just unraveled in front of him. When he was far enough, you watched as Dean slapped his little brother upside the head and then gave you the dirtiest glare he could muster up. You frowned and gave him the evil eye.   
  
“Ow! What was that for?” Sam muttered, rubbing the back of his sore head.   
  
“Why did you have to step on my foot?” Dean hissed, he turned his head and looked down at you. “And you—why did you have to make up that bogus story?”   
  
“Because I didn’t feel like getting arrested!” You admitted, throwing your hands up in the air. “If you didn’t talk to the police like that, I wouldn’t have had to say those things!”   
  
“Come on, they don’t know what’s going on. We’re all alone on this.” Dean stopped in front of you, causing you follow in suit. You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms over your chest, giving Dean a look of disbelief at his weak attempt to justify his actions. “If you’re going to help us find Dad, we gotta get to this the bottom of this ourselves.”   
  
The sounds of someone clearing the throat caused all eyes to drop on another officer, you noticed two other men were behind him, dressed in a white button up and a black tie. “Can I help you boys?” The officer asked, clearly ignoring your presence.   
  
“No sir, we were just leaving.” You spoke up, flashing a fake smile. He just gave you a blank stare in return.   
  
“Agent Mulder, Agent Scully.” Dean greeted the two men as they walked passed the three of you. You sighed at the boy’s horrible sense of humor. You followed behind the boys as you all headed back to the Impala, getting ready to track down the next part of this investigation   
  


* * *

  
The three of you drove downtown, deciding to find the victim’s girlfriend Amy and ask her a few questions. You watched from the sidewalk as you observed a teenage girl putting up missing posters around the shops. Sam and Dean were arguing, yet again, of how to approach the girl. You rolled your eyes and piped into the conversation to bring up your idea  .   
  
“Why don’t you let me talk to her? You know, have a heart to heart.” You suggested, watching the girl from the corner of your eye.   
  
Dean scoffed at your idea. “And have you throw out some stupid story again? No, I’ll do—and she’s gone.” He muttered underneath his breath as he watched you head over to Amy, Sam could only chuckle to himself at your enthusiasm to get the job done.   
  
The brothers trailed behind as you headed up towards Amy, you smiled at the teenager before speaking. “Are you Amy? Troy told me about you. I’m his aunt.” You introduced yourself in a soft tone. You could almost fool yourself with that presentation. And Dean thought you couldn’t handle yourself out here. That’ll show him. “I’m Y/N and these are his uncles,” You pointed towards the boys standing behind you. “Sammy and Dean.”   
  
She gave you a confused look. “He never mentioned you to me.” She said while walking away from the three of you. You cursed underneath your breath, following her as she continued to put up posters of her missing boyfriend.   
  
“Well, that’s Troy, I guess.” Dean admitted, following your plan. “We’re not around much. We’re up in Modesto.” You looked over your shoulder and gave him a confused look at the random town he blurted out. He just ignored you and continued talking. “So we’re looking for him, too, and we’re kind of asking around.”   
  
Another girl, presuming it was Amy’s friend, walked up and placed a hand on her friend’s arm. “Hey, are you okay?” She whispered, taking a cautious glance up at the three of you. Amy nodded her head before looking back at you.   
  
“Do you mind if we ask you a couple questions?” You asked, smiling slightly. The girls agreed and followed to pick a spot to talk.   
  
The five of you headed towards a small coffee shop you’d spotted a few stores down. Dean and Sam sat on the right side of the booth as the other two girls sat on the left. You pulled up a chair and sat near Dean, you pushed his coffee cup out of the way so you could place your own down. He gave you a look, you just kicked his shin and gestured to pay attention towards the two girls with a nod, smiling at them to start.   
  
“I was on the phone with Troy. He was driving home. He said he would call me right back, and he never did.” Amy explained, you tell in her voice that she was still in shock of her boyfriend’s sudden disappearance.   
  
“He didn’t say anything strange or out of the ordinary?” Sam questioned, his facial expressions were calm as his tone made sure to make the girls feel comfortable to open up to him.   
  
“No, nothing I can remember.” Amy recalled, shaking her head.   
  
“Here’s the deal, ladies—the way that Troy disappeared—something’s not right.” Dean spoke up, being blunt in his tone, as usual. “So if you’ve heard anything…” The two girls looked at one another, there was something they weren’t telling you. He was quick to catch on.  “What is it?”   
  
“Well, it’s just—I mean with all these guys going missing, people talk.” Amy pondered on the thought.   
  
“What do they talk about?” Both brothers asked at the same time, you nearly choked on your drink from holding back a laughter, you just pressed the cup to your lips and swallowed the coffee to keep yourself composed.   
  
The girls were quiet, Amy moved around in her seat, adjusting so her hands were lying on the table. “It’s kind of a local legend.” She explained, “This one girl, she got murdered out on Centennial like decades ago.” Your eyebrows arched up, looking over at the boys. You could see they had found something supernatural after all. “Well, supposedly, she’s still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up—well, they disappear forever.”   
  
Both of the boys looked over at one another again. Deciding the conversation was over with, you reached inside your pocket and pulling out a twenty dollar bill, throwing on the table. You smiled at both of the girls. “Thank you for taking the time and talking to us. I’m sure Troy will is fine.” You assured, watching the two girls head out of the restaurant and continue on with putting up posters. You looked over at boys and gestured over towards the computers. “Let’s get cracking, boys.”   
  
The three of you sat at one of the computers; Dean was in the middle Sam was on the right as you leaned over their shoulders to see what they were doing. Dean pulled up a local search engine and typed in “Female Murder Hitchhiker” into the search engine and pressed enter. You all waited a few seconds until zero results showed up.   
  
“Let me try,” Sam insisted, trying to take the mouse of his brother’s hands. “I got it.” Dean muttered, but the youngest Winchester just pushed his brother out of the way and slid next to the computer, Dean gave him a dirty look before mumbling something about him being a child. Sam ignored him, he decided to cut out the hitchhiker and replaced it with “Female Murder Centennial Hitchhiker Highway” and tried again. Still, nothing showed up.   
  
Both of them started to argue about something as Dean pushed Sam out of the way. You rolled your eyes and pushed each of them out of the way, crouching down and taking control of the computer. “Let a professional do the work, boys.” You declared as you thought for a few moments, blocking out Dean’s comment about you being a control freak as Sam sighed in annoyance. He’ll pay for that later, you noted to yourself.   
  
“Okay, spirits are born out of violent deaths, right?” You asked, looking at the two of them, they nodded their heads. “Maybe it’s not murder.” You replaced murder with suicide and pressed enter, crossing your fingers for something. A grueling five seconds later, something popped up. You looked over at the two boys and grinned. “I’m on a roll today, you might want to take notes.”   
  
“Beginners luck,” Dean muttered underneath his breath as Sam tried to focus everyone back on the research that needed to be done. “This was 1981.” He began reading the article. “Constance Welch, 24 years old. Jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in the river.”   
  
You glanced at the photograph on the right, you had to admit she was an attractive woman. You wondered why she was do such a tragic thing to end her life. “Did she say why she did it?”   
  
“Yeah,” Sam read a bit more until speaking up again, scrolling through the article. “An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Her two little kids are in the bathtub. She leaves them alone for a minute, and when she gets back, they aren’t breathing. Both died.”   
  
You felt a pang of sadness for the woman. No mother should ever had to deal with the heartbreak of losing their children. You sort of felt her reasons for her wanting to kill herself. But it still didn’t explain the local legend and how it connected with her.   
  
“'Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn’t bear it,’ said husband, Joseph Welch.” Sam read the last of the article. Something across the photograph of the grieving husband caught your eye.   
  
You pointed towards the bridge where Constance committed suicide, “That bridge look familiar to you?” You asked the boys, looking at both of them. You all were quiet for a few moments, but you knew where the next stop would be headed towards.   
  


* * *

  
When night fell again, all of you headed back towards the bridge from the police had found Troy’s abandoned car that was also the spot where Constance committed suicide. The place looked to be back to normal again with no car around or yellow tape. You walked towards the edge of the bridge and looked down at the rushing water below.   
  
“So this is where Constance took the swine dive.” Dean said, standing next to you, staring at the river below.   
  
“Do you think Dad would have been here?” Sam questioned, looking over at his brother.   
  
“Well, he’s chasing the same story, and we’re chasing him.” Dean answered, stepping away from the bridge and heading somewhere else to observe.   
  
“Okay, so now what?” Sam asked, following behind his brother.   
  
“Now we keep digging ‘till we find him.” Dean simply stated, looking around the place. “It might take a while.”   
  
Sam sighed and informed his brother of his plans that were happening in just a short time. “Dean, I told you I’ve got to get back by—”   
  
“Monday,” Dean muttered, turning around to look at his brother. “Right. The interview.” It was quiet for a few moments between the two brothers, until Dean spoke up again. And that’s when all the emotions that both of them had been harboring for the past day, or maybe it was the past two years–they all slowly bubbled to the surface without a warning sign for you to stop it before it could get worse.   
  
“You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?” Dean questioned, slowly stepping closer to his brother. You could see his face was becoming tense with anger which each word that he spoke, all of it was his own feelings that he couldn’t hold in any longer. “You think you’re just gonna become some lawyer, marry a girl?”   
  
“Maybe, why not?” Sam suggested, shrugging his shoulders.   
  
“Does Jessica know the truth about you?” Dean curiously asked, egging his brother on to for a fight. “Does she know about the things you’ve done?”   
  
You opened your mouth to say something to stop this fight, but Sam was quicker to respond. You watched as he took a step forward, his face growing with protectiveness over the mention of his girlfriend. “No, and she’s not ever going to find out.”   
  
“Well, that’s healthy.” Dean remarked, nodding his head. You rolled your eyes and glared at the oldest Winchester. “You can pretend all you want, Sammy, but you’re gonna have to face up to who you really are.”   
  
“Dean, don't—” You tried to speak up, slowly getting yourself in the middle of the boys. But each of them started walking away, ignoring your protests for them to stop. You followed behind as each of them began arguing like little children again.   
  
“Who is that?” Sam questioned.   
  
Dean scoffed and smiled, “One of us.”   
  
“No, I’m not like you. This is not going to be my life.” Sam declared, walking up and then stopping his brothers in his tracks.   
  
“Well, you have a responsibility,” Dean reminded, his tone becoming harder.   
  
“To Dad and his crusade?” Sam asked, laughing at how it sounded. “If it weren’t for pictures, I wouldn’t even know what Mom looks like. What difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her,” He kept quiet for a few seconds, his tone becoming lighter. “Mom’s gone, and she isn’t coming back.”   
  
Suddenly you watched as Dean grabbed Sam by the collar of his shirt and threw him into one of the large, metal posts. You screamed for the both of them to stop, trying your hardest to pry Dean off Sam. Your eyes drifted towards the water, if he was just a bit rougher and a few inches off, he could have landed Sam into the water, getting him lost forever. But they ignored you, sharing glares of anger until Dean spoke up again in a low tone.   
  
“Don’t talk about her like that.” He simply stated, his tone icy cold.   
  
“Okay, that’s it!” You found yourself yelling, squeezing yourself until you were in the middle of them. Pushing the brothers apart, you decided to take control of the situation before it got any worse. Dean turned his back to you as Sam stared off into the distance. “I’m sick and tired of you two constantly bickering! It’s the only thing I’ve been hearing this entire trip!” You yelled, “Now if you two can’t get along I’m going—”   
  
You looked up at the two brothers who had looked off at something else; you gave them an annoyed look, turning your head to see what they were staring at. Suddenly you saw a woman in white standing on top of the railing. She looked at the three of you for a few moments. You watched as she slowly eased herself closer to the ledge, all until what could see was the flash of white fabric blowing in the wind, until it vanished too.   
  
The three of you wasted no time in getting yourselves in getting back into the mindset of the case you needed to be working on. You quickly ran towards the ledge, frantically looking towards where the woman could have gone. But she disappeared from sight, as if she was never there. “Where did she go?” Dean demanded, looking at the water below.   
  
“I don’t know.” Sam confessed.   
  
Then the next strange thing tonight happened shortly after; the sound of the engine rang inside your wars, your eyebrows furrowed. You turned your head to see the headlights of the Impala were turned on as the engine purred once more. Something was right about this. “Who’s driving your car?” You asked, looking up at Dean. He didn’t take his eyes off the car, just digging into his coat pocket, pulling out the keys. You nervously gulped in fear.   
  
The sounds of tires squealing against the pavement rang inside your ears, you couldn’t help yourself but look at the car like a deer in headlights, watching as the car coming straight at you.   
  
You felt someone grab a hold of your arm, yanking you from your thoughts as you began running for you life. You tried your hardest to keep up with the boys, Sam was practically dragging you along he kept pace with his brother. The three of you turned towards the right and did the only logical thing, by jumping off the bridge and straight into the freezing water.   
  
When the water engulfed your body, it felt like a thousand needles dug into your skin, the temperature was at least below zero. After swimming your way to the top, head popped up from the water, trying your hardest to drag yourself out, but your body felt like it weighed a ton from your soaked clothes towards the thick layer of mud that covered you from head to toe.   
  
Someone called your name as you finally found yourself touching the muddy ground. You grunted in disgust as you pulled yourself next to Dean, who looked about as worse as you. Both of you were covered in a layer of, what you hoped to be, mud. All you could was lay on the ground, catching your breath from the rush of excitement. Sam’s laugh echoed as you turned your head to look up, he was sitting on the ledge, looking at you two with a huge grin. He was the only smart one that held on towards the ledge, and he was mocking you for it. You reached your arm up and did the only thing appropriate, you flipped him off.   
  
When Dean and you finally made it back up to the bridge, the first thing that Dean asked about was about his beloved car. “Yeah, whatever she did to it, it seems all right now.” Sam commented, looking at the Impala.   
  
“That Constance chick—what a bitch!” Dean shouted into the air as if she was standing right in front of the three of you. Of course, nothing happened.   
  
“Well, she didn’t want us digging around, that’s for sure.” Sam remarked, watching as his brother sat down on the hood of the car. He followed a few seconds later.   
  
“So where does the train go from here, geniuses?” You asked, tugging on your smelly shirt. You gagged in disgust from the smell that lingered off. “I need to shower in the worse way.” You grunted out, watching as Sam leaned over and sniffed you. You crinkled your nose and gave him a look at his weird behavior.   
  
“You smell like a toilet,” He commented. You rolled your eyes into the back of your head, trying to control the urge to throw him off the bridge and make him suffer the same fate that you and his brother had. But sitting inside the car with all the windows rolled up would just have to do.   


* * *

  
“Two rooms please,” Dean dropped the master-card on top of the motel registry. It was morning by the time that you and the boys found a motel in this town. You were too tired to care about the weird looks or questions that you were going to get from the person over the desk. But the older man picked up the card and looked it over, never commenting of the smell that you must be giving off by now.  
  
“You guys having a reunion or something?” The man asked, taking his time to observe the name on the card. You gave the man a curious look. “That other guy, Bert Afarmian. He came in and bought out a room for the whole month.”  
  
Both boys looked at one another, quickly paying for the rooms and heading off. Instead of getting yourselves settled, the three of you stopped at John’s room to take a peak around. You watched as Sam picked the lock for a few seconds, until the door swung open. You stepped inside while Sam grabbed Dean by the back of his jacket and tugged him inside, breaking his concentration after playing watch out for his little brother.  
  
Your eyes wandered around the state of the room; photographs and strings of yarn were tacked to the walls, there was objects spread across the furniture, an an odd smell lingered around the air. You watched as Dean went over and turned on the light. Noticing that there was a half eaten hamburger resting below the lamp. He picked it up and took a whiff,  but quickly throwing it back down and groaned. Well, they explained the smell of rotting meat.  
  
“I don’t think he’s been here for a couple days, at least.” Dean said, turning his head to look at his brother, who was kneeling and observing a ring of salt.  
  
“Salt, cat’s-eye shells.” You muttered, looking around at the contents of the room. “He was worried, trying to keep something from coming in.”  
  
Sam nodded, standing back up and headed over towards his brother. “What do you got here?” Sam questioned. You followed in suit, your eyes wandered over a board full of photographs of victims and information scribbled below.  
  
“Centennial highway victims.” Dean commented, observing the work his father done. “I don’t get it. I mean, different men, different jobs, age, ethnicity. There’s always a connection, right?”  
  
Sam turned around and headed over towards the walls across from the two of you. Not giving it much interest, you looked over your shoulder to see what Sam had found. When your eyes landed on the pictures of burning bodies and a skeleton with a group of people, you were taken back by the dark content.  
  
“What do these guys have in common?” Dean asked, ignoring the fact that you and Sam followed another trail full of other articles or small drawings that must’ve dated back a few centuries towards this millennium .  
  
“Dad figured it out,” Sam said, his eyes never leaving the little section.  
  
“What do you mean?” Dean asked, walking over towards the two of you.  
  
“He found the same article we did.” Your finger tapped against the paper, pointing out the article the three of you had been previously reading. “Constance Welch. She’s a Woman in White.”  
  
Dean turned and looked over at the victims, a smirk spread across his face. “You sly dogs.” He amused himself. “All right, so if we’re dealing with a woman in white, dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it.”  
  
“She might have another weakness/” Sam suggested.  
  
“No, Dad would want to make sure. He’d dig her up. Does it say where she’s buried?” Dean asked, heading over to look at the article again.  
  
“Not that I can tell.” Sam said, looking at the photograph of Constance. “If I were Dad, though, I would go ask her husband,” His fingers tapped against the picture of Joseph. “If he’s still alive.”  
  
“All right why don’t you go look for an address?” Dean added, tearing his eyes away from the picture posted below the article. “I’m gonna get cleaned up.”  
  
You nodded your head in agreement, tugging on the mud that was now hardening on your clothes and making it awkward to walk. You headed over to the door, but Sam’s voice stopped the both of you.  
  
“Hey, Dean, what I said earlier about Mom an Dad—I’m sorry.” Sam apologized towards his brother, you could see the guilt written across his face.  
  
Dean raised his hand up, stopping his brother. “No chickflick moments.”  
  
Sam laughed, smiling at his brother. “All right, jerk.”  
  
“Bitch.” Dean sassed back.  
  
“Idiots.” You retorted, watching as the two of them laughed before Dean stepped outside and headed towards his motel room.  
  
You smiled at Sam before stepping towards the front door, but you stopped when you heard him call your name. You turned your head, “Yeah, Sammy?” You asked in a soft tone. You caught yourself and smiled. “No matter what, I’m still going to call you that. Okay?”  
  
“All right,” He laughed out, nodding his head. It was quiet between the both of you, Sam cleared his throat and looked down at you. “Before you leave, I wanted to thank you for everything that you’ve done. It’s nice to have someone on my side, rooting for me to follow my dreams. If it wasn’t for you…I don’t think I would have the opportunities I have now.”  
  
You opened your mouth to protest, but he kept going. “If it wasn’t for you, Y/N, I wouldn’t have met Jess.” He admitted.  
  
“You really love her, don’t you?” You asked in a soft tone, smiling up at him. Sam nodded his head, sighing to himself as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, here’s some free advice. Call the poor girl! She’s probably worried sick about you.” You walked until you were standing in front of the doorway, you looked over your shoulder and gave Sam a stern look. “And Sammy—when you get back, can you promise me something?” Sam gave you a confused look, but he nodded his head. “Propose to her. Show you of how much you really love her. There’s not much of her kind left out there. It would be a shame if someone snatched her up because of your idiot brother pressuring you into staying. I’ll deal with his worries.”  
  
Sam was quiet for a few moments, looking down at his feet, before mumbling another thank you. You smiled and walked over towards him, standing on your tippy toes, you gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. “Sam Winchester if you say thank you one more time, I will hurt you.” You playfully threatened him.  
  
“You smell really bad.” Sam whispered, coughing a bit when you stood so close to him. You gave him a glare. It was only a few seconds later until both of you burst out into giggles. 

* * *

 

After taking a much needed shower to get that disgusting mud off your hair and body, you emerged from the bathroom with fresh clothes on. Your bare feet walked across the motel carpet before you slipped on a pair of new shoes, hating the fact that you had to throw away your favorite pair. But there was a chance you could get the smell out of it, and it would take a miracle to scrub through the thick layer of dirt caked on. As you began putting your dirty clothes and shampoo back into your bag that sat on top of your bed, knocking at the door caused you to stop in your actions. You stood for a few seconds, listening as you heard the person knock again before they spoke up.   
  
“Open up, it’s me.” You recognized the voice as Dean. Letting out a sigh of relief, you headed towards the door. You took a second precaution and looked through the peephole. He was mindlessly looking around at the place, leaning his body against the door frame. You opened it up and noticed that he had washed himself.   
  
The beloved, beat up leather jacket was never far from his outfit. Another thing that he had been gifted by his father.You always secretly loved it on him, even admitting on wanting to try it out for fun to see what was so special about. But Dean, being the cautious man that he was, always shot down the idea before you could persuade him. It was always worth a try.   
  
“You clean up well.” You teased him, a smile spreading across your lips when he just rolled his eyes at your comment.   
  
“I’m heading to the diner down the street. Wanna come with me?” He asked.   
  
“Is Aframin paying?” He nodded his head, you shrugged your shoulders. “Why not. I wouldn’t have a decent meal before heading to jail for identity theft.”   
  
You closed the door behind you and walked down the stairs with Dean, falling into a comfortable silence as you headed towards the car. But seconds later you felt his hand wrap around your wrist and pull you backwards. You gave him a confused glance at his behavior. He nodded his head towards his right. You looked over to see there was a cop car, standing next to it was three men—the two deputies from earlier and the motel man that checked you in, he pointed at the both of you.    
  
You turned around, cursing at yourself for the irony of your previous words. You watched as Dean pulled out his cell phone, making a call towards his brother for him to take off. At least he could make it out. You and Dean were about to become jail birds for whatever crime the police discovered. That’s it, you kept telling yourself. Your life is over.   
  
“Stay calm, I’ll handle this.” Dean muttered as both of you turned around to see the two deputies had approached the both of you. He flashed a smile at the both of them, seeming innocent enough. “Problem officers?”   
  
“Where’s your other partner?” Deputy Jaffe questioned, crossing his arms over his chest. It seemed that he wasn’t in the mood for any funny businesses that Dean was trying to pull over on him to get out of this situation.   
  
“Partner? What-What partner?” Dean stuttered out, you could tell he was trying to act innocent. He looked over at you and smiled. Suddenly you felt him wrapping his hands around your waist and pulling you into his chest. “I was just taking my girlfriend out for a quick lunch. Is that crime, sir?” You felt his hands slowly slide towards your butt, squeezing It for some effect. You bit back a gasp of surprise, trying to smile without giving into the urge of punching Dean in the jaw for his cheeky move.   
  
But it didn’t help, the other deputy headed towards the motel where Sam was still in., panic slowly sett inside of you when you realized he was the only person that could get you out of this. You only hoped that he somehow managed to get out before it was too late.   
  
“So fake U.S. Marshal, fake credit cards. You got anything that’s real?” Deputy Jaffe asked.   
  
“My boobs.” Dean remarked, chuckling at his dumb comment that he thought was amusing. It was just the nail in the coffin. You shook your head knowing what was coming next. And there was no amount of tears or sarcasm that was going to get you out of this.    
  
You watched the deputy pulled out a pair of handcuffs, he started repeating the Miranda Rights you’ve heard a million times on all the Law and Order marathons you watched late at night when you couldn’t sleep. The metal clicked together as you felt your hands become restrained behind your back. It was official; you were a criminal in the state of California, a jailbird for life.    
  
You were roughly dragged down and pushed down against the hood of the police car. Dean was slammed down as the deputy read his rights. You saw him flash an innocent smile, you turned your gaze the other way. The man was dead when you got your hands on him.   


* * *

  
You sat inside a small interrogation room, both your wrists were cuffed towards the table, the cops made sure you weren’t going anywhere. Like you had anything to pick the locks with or even know how to such a thing, you bitterly think to yourself. You watched as the metal cuffs reflect the fluorescent lights above you when you tapped your fingers against the table.   
  
Waiting for someone to talk to you made your nerves even worse. It felt like hours of you just sitting in this chair and watching the tinted glass window dance with shadows at each person that walked by. You kept thinking that each one passing by was going to be an officer telling you that your entire life was over. What were you going to say when one show up?   
  
You could always deny everything. Maybe even act like a kidnapping victim and say the boys put you up to it. Or maybe they would do that Good Cop, Bad Cop routine and make you squeal like a pig. You sighed and leaned your head back. So maybe you weren’t cut out for this search if you were going to track under a simple police interrogation that hasn’t even happened yet.   
  
Suddenly you regretted ever pushing Dean into taking you along with him. He was right, this was Sam and his own problems they needed to do. You were just the dead weight that were dragging them along. You somehow tipped off the cops and blew your cover. You sighed and looked over at the door. You had to make up a story to get Dean out of here to find his brother. You were going to make sure they found their dad, even if it meant taking the blame for this and rotting in jail for the rest of your life.   
  
You held your breath as you watched the door slowly open, waiting for some balding man to tell you that your entire life was over, it was going to be twenty to life in prison for the crime. Some woman named Crazy Eyes was gonna try to make you her prison wife and make your entire life a living hell. This was it, this is the end.   
  
But when you saw a flash of sandy blonde hair and green eyes, you found yourself breathing normally again. Dean snuck himself through the door without being caught and closed it quietly behind him. “What the hell are you doing here?” You whispered, watching as he headed towards you. He slammed something down before pulling out a silver object from his pocket. It took you a second to realize it was a paper clip he must have found.    
  
“I’m here to bust you out.” He mumbled, leaning over so he could start picking at the handcuffs to get you free. “A thank you would be nice.” The comment alone made you roll your eyes.   
  
You glanced over at the leather journal that was sitting just inches from you, the contents looked somewhat familiar, but you couldn’t put your finger on it. “What’s that?” You curiously asked, reaching to take a peek at it right after your hands became free. But Dean was quick to snatch it away before you hand a chance to touch it, he shoved it into his jacket.    
  
“I’ll explain later. We need to get out here before the cops come back.” Dean said.    
  
Both of you escaped towards an empty hallway that lead towards an office with a possible way to escape. It seemed that something was going on with the amount of noise and chaos that could be heard from behind the door. You watched as Dean peaked his out the window where you could hear officers running around the place and leaving one by one. After a few minutes, everything became silent. You watched as Dean opened the door and slowly walk in and disappearing. A minute later, he returned with a leather pouch, you were quick to notice the guns that peaked out.   
  
“I think it’s a little late for you to play sheriff.” You hissed in surprise, taken back by what he had stolen for whatever reason.   
  
He rolled his eyes and pulled out two weapons; he handed one towards you and then putting the one back into the pouch. “Do you remember that shooting lesson I gave you a couple of years ago?” He asked, you nodded your head, the metal felt heavy in your hands. “Good ‘cause I really don’t want to debrief you right now. Don’t shoot unless you it’s necessary to stop from one of us getting killed.”   
  
“Why do we need one? I thought we were hunting a ghost.“ You wanted to tell, but it came out as nothing more than a harsh whisper. "Not making another one!”   
  
You followed behind as Dean lead you towards the end of the hall. You opened it up and suddenly felt a rush of cold air, you looked to see that you were just a step away from the rooftop.   
  
“It’s for protection, just in case something happens.” Dean muttered as he began walking towards the edge. You rolled your eyes and saw what he was looking for. You pushed him out of the way and headed down the metal ladder, heading down first.   
  
You landed on your feet when you had to jump from the large gap from where the ladder ended. You watched as Dean quickly caught up and ran out of the alleyway you found yourselves in. Dean headed towards a payphone after yours were confiscated from the cops. You watched as he made a call towards Sam, standing outside and looking around at the nighttime scenery.   
  
“Fake 911 phone call, Sammy? That’s pretty illegal.” You heard Dean speak through the phone. His voice was happy sounding, as if he was proud of his brother. It was quiet for a few moments until Dean spoke up again.   
  
“Listen, we got to talk.” Sam must be talking on the other end because all you heard was soft mummers and something about a woman in white, he must be talking about Constance. “Sammy, would you shut up for a second?…That’s what I’m trying to tell you. He’s gone. Dad left Jericho.”   
  
Your heart nearly stopped beating at the words you just heard. All this hard work the boys pulled and he just vanished into thin air, again. “I’ve got his journal…Well, he did this time.” Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. John’s journal? He wouldn’t just leave it here. But that must have been what you saw earlier. “Same old ex-Marine crap. When he wants to let us know where he’s going….I’m not sure yet.” Suddenly you could hear the echo of tires squealing and Dean calling his brother’s name frantically at the phone.   
  
“What just happened?” You asked as you watched Dean head out of the phone booth. His face was pale. He didn’t say anything, he just ran fast as he could. You only could suck in a breath and follow behind in hope that you could keep up with him, like always.   
  


* * *

  
Your feet ached as you felt like you had been running forever, but you were determined to make it when you saw where both of you were heading, the Welch household. You saw that the Impala was parked off towards the side of the road. But you couldn’t quite make out where Sam was inside of it. Running a little bit faster, you finally spotted him sitting inside the car with the ghost of Constance sitting on top of his body, hurting him. Your lips stretched into a scowl.   
  
Adrenaline pumped through your body as you thought of something, the gun dug into your backside. Ignoring the shouts from Dean, you suddenly found yourself running faster than him and pulling out the gun. You stopped at the passenger side and saw Constance had somehow transformed into this skeletal ghost that didn’t make you scared like she wanted, it just made you want the spirit out of harm’s way before you really got pissed off. A thought crossed your mind, and wasting no time, you went into action.   
  
“Get down!” You shouted at Sam. The ghost looked at you before you pulled the trigger several times, the window shattered into a million pieces as you slowly inched closer towards the car with each shot. You waited a few seconds until she was gone, but somehow she popped up back again. You quickly brought the gun back up again and shot a few more times until she finally vanished into thin air. You thought that it would do the job, but Sam decided that wasn’t good enough.    
  
He turned the engine back on and floored it, you watched as he drove right through the house and lost himself in the pile of wreckage. Your ears were ringing from the different sounds of Dean calling out his little brother’s name as he ran towards the crash. You followed after him into the house, you saw that Sam was okay, but stuck inside the car. You helped Dean get him out as best as you could. When he was free, you wrapped his right arm around your shoulder and tried to steady his body on towards yours to keep him from being in too much pain.   
  
But it seemed that the fight wasn’t over yet for the three of you, all of you had a pissed of spirit that still wanted to have a bit of fun. Your eyes wandered around the house until they landed on Constance, she was across the room now. She bent down and picked up a photograph that must have dropped from the crash. Her eyes went from the picture towards the three of you. You nervously gulped, her face was written with anger as she threw the frame back towards the ground in frustration. She was really, really mad now.   
  
In a blink of an eye she moved and somehow dragged a dresser and threw it against your bodies, pinning you against the car. You groaned from the sudden pressure and pain, trying your hardest to help the boys push this thing off your body, but it was no use. Something told you it was going to be the end, but then it happened.    
  
The lights flickered on around the place and an eerie vibe set in; she changed her mood, frantically looking around the place to see what was causing it. But she knew exactly what it was. She turned her head towards the staircase. You watched as water began pouring down through the wooden cracks and stairs, Constance’s attention was focused on two figures that stood on top of the stairs.   
  
She walked towards it, her eyes landed on the small shadows of bodies that she could make out. What they said made a shiver run down your spine when you realize who they were, her dead kids. “You’ve come home to us, Mommy.” The children whispered in sync, they held hands. She just stood there, looking at the shadows for a few moments until she turned her head towards the right.   
  
Then they were back after so many years of neglect. There stood her real children in the flesh again. They wrapped their tiny arms around her body as she screamed out in terror, the guilt settled in after all these years of running away from what she had done to them. But she couldn’t escape. Seconds later you saw a flash of light causing you to turn your head as the room shook all around you.   
  
After a few seconds, you turned back to see what happened. You noticed that Constance and her children were gone, all except for a puddle of water that was left behind. The three of you looked at one another, making sure everyone was all right. Sam and Dean pushed off the dresser and let it fall back towards the ground.   
  
You headed towards the wet spot, you heard Sam and Dean follow behind. “So this is where she drowned her kids.” Dean said, looking around the place one more time.   
  
“That’s why she could never go home.” Sam explained, “She was too scared to face them.”   
  
“You found her weak spot, nice job Sammy.” Dean congratulated his brother by slapping his bruised chest before heading towards his beloved car to see if there was any damage.   
  
Sam forced out a chuckle through the pain, his eyes dropping towards you. “I wish I could the same thing for you. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?”   
  
You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms over your chest. “I saved your ass Winchester, didn’t I?” You smiled before shrugging your shoulders. “Besides, I needed the practice.”   
  
“I’ll tell you another thing.” Dean pipped up, leaning over to inspect something on the Impala. “If you screwed up my car, I’ll kill you.”   
  
Sam just laughed at his brother’s threat as Dean flashed his brother a glare that you knew wasn’t a serious one. You smiled to yourself as you saw how immature the boys were acting, it was quite refreshing to see from the bickering they had done these past day and a half. It was all something that you needed to do, laugh.   
  
The brothers wasted no time in getting the car out of the wreckage, you had kept yourself busy with giving them instructions and what not, all while trying not to keep yourself from fall asleep in a standing position. You covered your mouth once more when you felt another yawn escaped your lips. But the next thing that you felt was a shiver run through your body from the gust of night air and the exhaustion from today’s events.   
  
You rubbed your hands over your arms to create some sort of friction to keep your body warm. As you were beginning to curse at yourself for forgetting your coat back at the police station. But it seemed that someone else caught on, and soon enough, a heavy feeling fabric was draped over your shoulders. You turned your head, quite surprised to see that Dean had lent you his beloved jacket. It was still warm from his own body. You couldn’t help yourself shove your arms through the holes and pull the jacket tighter around your body. Just as you were about to thank him, Dean quickly busied himself with yelling at you and Sam to get in the car, knowing that all of you had quite a long drive ahead for the three of you.   
  


* * *

  
The Impala was back on the road in no time with only a broken taillight that could be fixed in the morning, but for now, all of you needed to get home safely like promised. Dean was at the driver’s seat while Sam was in the passenger’s side, his father’s journal sitting on his lap with the page flipped towards the coordinates to see where they lead. His finger traced around a trail until he found out where his father wanted them to go.   
  
“Okay, here’s where Dad went.” Sam pointed out on the map that he leaned against the dashboard. “It’s called Black Bottle Ridge, Colorado.”   
  
“Sounds charming.” Dean remarked. He looked down at the map for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the road before he could swerve. “How far?”   
  
“About six hundred miles.” Sam answered, turning head slightly to the side to observe the map a little bit more under the flashlight.   
  
“If we shag ass, we could make it by morning.” Dean suggested, a little bit of hope rising in his voice. All though he wouldn’t say it, he wanted his family back together just once more. He missed the adventures he shared with you and his brother, but the stubborn man wouldn’t share his feelings.   
  
Sam looked up from the map, he was quiet for a few moments, not sure of how to break the news towards his older brother. He wasn’t as serious as finding his father like his brother was. “Dean, um…” His brother looked at the road before glancing at his brother. “You’re not going.” He muttered underneath his breath. “The interviewer’s in ten hours. I got to be there.” Sam tried to explain, but his older brother didn’t want to hear anymore of it.   
  
Dean scoffed and positioned himself around in the seat to keep the air from getting awkward. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I’ll take you home.” He muttered underneath his breath, trying to disguise his disappointment with hardening anger.   
  
The car fell into a silence between the two brothers when the conversation ended. Dean looked at the rear view mirror to see how you were doing after today’s events; he caught a glimpse of your sleeping face in the backseat. You had his beloved leather jacket wrapped around your tiny body, he couldn’t help but smiled at the sight of you just passed out from today’s adventures.   
  
“Promise you’ll keep her safe.” Sam’s voice broke the silence. Dean turned his head to look at his brother. “She can act tough, but she’s still new to this. And don’t tell her I said this, but,” He didn’t want to say this, knowing that you had told him in confidence, but it was a warning. “she’s still having those nightmares.”   
  
“About her mom?” Dean asked.   
  
Sam nodded his head. “She called me up in the middle of the night, hysterically crying. It took me almost an hour to calm her down.” Sam admitted, his jaw clenching at the memory. “She might feel safer if she’s with you for a while. Just until she feels a bit better about this situation.”   
  
Dean sighed, “Well she’s already insisting on helping find Dad. And you know how Y/N is, she won’t take no for an answer.” Both boys chuckled and looked as Dean your sleeping face. “You remember what Dad would say about her? ‘She’s just like her mother: Stubborn as Hell and yet puts everyone first but herself.’”   


* * *

You woke up a few hours later towards the sound of mumbled voices and doors being slammed shut. Dawn was slowly rising again, making it a bit easier for you to make out the blurry vision of Sam leaning against the car while he talked to his brother one more time. You tried to get yourself up into a sitting position, but your body felt so heavy from all the running around you did today. You slouched back down and tugged at the jacket more to keep yourself warm again.   
  
“You’re leaving already?” You asked in a sleepy tone, your eyes barely able to keep themselves opened. He nodded, smiling at your state of near unconsciousness behavior. “Remember our deal, Winchester.” You muttered, your finger pointing at him. “I want a phone call right when you hear yes. You got it?”   
  
“I got it,” Sam muttered with a small smile. He looked over at his brother and said something you couldn’t quit hear, but it was a farewell between the both of them for now. And it was a peaceful one, at that.   
  
“Let’s go Sleeping Beauty, we have a long drive ahead of us.” Dean said as he drove away from the apartment building and back towards the open road, heading to Black Bottle for the search to continue for John.   
  
Everything was quiet for a few minutes; all you felt was the vibrations of the moving car and the radio. You slowly felt asleep come rushing back towards your body. You closed your eyes again and—“Son of a bitch!” You heard Dean’s voice shouting through your ears, the car suddenly jerked around into a rough u-turn. You had to clutch the seat to keep yourself from slamming against the backseat door. The tension of the situation had brought you wide awake. You sat straight up in your seat, eyes now fixated on the road. It took you only a few seconds to realize that Dean was heading back to Stanford.   
  
“Listen Y/N, I want you to stay inside the car no matter what happens, you got that?” Dean instructed, his green eyes met yours in the rear view. You slowly nodded your head, but he wanted to hear you say it. “Got it?” He barked at you, making you jump in fear of what was going on. But he still wasn’t giving you anymore clues to what was happening.   
  
“Yes, okay!” You stuttered out, leaning back in your seat again. "Dean, what the hell is going on?” But he didn’t answer you.   
  
Dean killed the engine and raced inside the building, leaving you alone with your racing mind and endless questions. Your heart was beating rapidly inside your chest with fear, you kept picturing the worst. What if something happened to Sam and Dean wasn’t quick enough? Suddenly everything felt like that night again. All questions and no sorts of answer. You turned your head to see the lights above you were flickering like crazy, you slowly turned your eyes towards the dashboard clock. “Goddamn it.” You muttered to yourself, your nails dug into your palm.   
  
The scene unraveled so quickly. One moment everything was fine—until you saw Sam’s apartment became engulfed into fiery orange and red flames. You gasped as you frantically searched for any sign of Dean. A grueling ten seconds later, you saw him step outside the building with Sam, who was fighting and calling out someone’s name. You tried to smile at seeing them, but someone was missing. Your stomach sank in fear.   
  
Jess was nowhere in sight.   


* * *

In just fifteen minutes everything had turned into the same similar events that took place almost twenty-two years ago; the parking lot was covered with firetrucks and ambulances that tended to the people who needed it. You couldn’t help yourself but think about the night that Married died. You were just two years old again, standing in front of your lawn with your mother clutching you tightly, being one of the handful of neighbors that could only but overlook the scenery. Dean was four years old at the time and Sam just a baby. You can still make out the frightened face that the oldest one tried to hide while he clutched his baby brother, refusing to hand him to anyone else.   
  
You tried to get Sam to say something, repeating words of comfort didn’t seem to be helping either, he just turned himself off. He lost the love of his life—he wouldn’t be speaking to anyone for quite a while. Sam just busied himself with taking apart a gun and reassembling it while Dean questioned the police to see if he could learn about what happened. You knew there wasn’t much to know without dabbling into the obvious; history was repeating itself, it had to be.   
  
Dean came back after another few minutes, the look on his face was defeated, nobody had found Jess’ body. It was as if she had disappeared into thin air. Sam violently threw the gun back into the trunk when he was done putting it back together, he looked at you and Dean, speaking up for the first time since all of this happened.   
  
“We got work to do.”


	2. Windego.

_ Your eyes wouldn't leave the scene of the crime scene; her crimson blood was soaked in the carpet as it stained her fingertips, her wounds looked more open from the position she was lying in with her neck pointed up to the ceiling. Her Y/E/C eyes were wide open, still glazed over with fear as her mouth hung down like she was screaming for someone to help her. You had to turn your head away and think of something else, anything to keep yourself from breaking down again. You tried to pick other things in the room to keep your mind from burning the image of her dead body as the only thing to remember her by.   
  
The bedroom air smelled a peculiar mix of your mother’s favorite perfume she sprayed right after the shower that lingered throughout the day—and the stink of sulfur, oh how it made your stomach twist in knots when the realization hit you again like a ton of bricks. This wasn’t a nightmare, all of this was really happening. Monsters that you grew up to believe were fake were very much real. One of them killed her for its own enjoyment. You brought your eyesight away from the body when a flash of light was caught from the corner of your eye again, glancing over, you noticed an officer crouching down at an angle so he could get a better view of the claw marks.   
  
Voices—there was all kinds of loud ones, small ones, sounds of camera clicks and someone tapping a pen against a stack of papers. You turned your head so you were not making eye contact with the detective that had called out your name for the third time. You stared at him with a blank expression, blinking twice at a response when he let out an annoyed sigh at your distraught behavior. You didn’t seem to notice his slow building aggravation, but you wouldn’t care if you did, anyway.   
  
The detective kept tapping his pen against his notepad, tapping a rhythm that almost sounded like a heartbeat to you. His sharp sigh finally brought your attention back towards the conversation you were having with him before you zoned out. “Miss. Y/L/N, I understand this is a scary situation, especially for a young woman your age. But if you want my help to find your mother’s killer, you need to focus.”   
  
You nodded your head, you let out a shaky breath while you tried to remember the story that John had told you to say towards the cops. You hoped you get through this without messing it all up. “Uh, I came home from school a little later than usual. When I walked up the porch steps, that’s when I noticed that the front door was opened up a crack, which was a bit strange. I wandered around the house and called out to find my mom. And-And that’s when I found her. ” You explained, your fingers twisting around. “I must have passed out from seeing all the blood. I-I-I’m squeamish, I guess.”   
  
The detective nodded, taking a moment to write down the information on his notepad before glancing back up at you again. “Did your mother have any enemies that would want to harm her? ” He questioned. “Possibly any old lovers or co workers that had a grudge on her?”   
  
You shook your head, your nails digging into your skin. Here comes another lie. “No. Everyone at the elementary school she worked at loved her. And my mom only had one relationship, and that was with my dad.”   
  
For a man with two bitter divorces in his past, the quiet scoff that escaped him should have been a mistake. But he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, it was almost like a fictional romance, that ended with the dead wife panda missing husband. When the detective looked up again, he caught your eyes that were burning holes in his forehead. He swallowed. “I’m sorry, I didn't mean to offend you.” He apologized, but you didn't believe any word that came out of his mouth. “And are your parents divorced? Any reason that your father would have wanted to harm your mother like this?”   
  
“No! Goddammit, he didn’t do this!” You exclaimed, anger boiling inside your chest. Tears began to prick your eye again. You had never felt so angry—so bitterly vulnerable, until right now. “My dad died when I was two. And…And now she’s dead.” A hand clasped over your mouth when a sob escaped your mouth. The realization of this situation hit you like a ton of bricks. You were an orphan.   
  
There was no family that you knew of; your grandparents either died before you were born or were exiled from being spoken about. Your parents never talked about siblings, either. It was just and your mother for all these years. And now, she left you, too. There was nobody left to take care of you, no one left to love you. All because of a demon that wanted to have a little fun. And your mother had to play along in this twisted game.   
  
You felt yourself become lightheaded when you used that word—demon. The Winchesters tried to explain to you as best as they could about these kind of creatures. These were soulless monsters that could take over human bodies. They said they were just a fog of black smoke, entering a person’s body without your permission and using it like a disposable meat suit for however they pleased. This one had your mother digging her nails into her skin as she sat in her own body like a second passenger, only feeling what was being done to her, and never having the control to stop it.   
  
You pressed your palm against your forehead when you felt your heart racing in panic. Everything that you grew up to fear, all the monsters that you thought were just objects bouncing off from the light, were real. It felt like you had been wearing a blindfold your entire life, and it was ripped off today to show you what they could do. You couldn’t deny that monsters weren’t real anymore.   
  
“I think that’s enough questions for now, officer.” Your ears picked up the sound of Dean’s voice as you felt his hand wrap around your waist, pulling you to his chest to support your wobbling body. You gave him a small smile. He nodded towards you before paying attention back to the detective. “Now, if you can stop harassing my friend here, maybe you can do your freaking job and find out who did this to her mother.”   
  
The detective was a bit taken back by Dean’s tone of voice, he wasn’t taking being bossed around by a teenager quite well. But he slammed his notepad shut and placed it back into his suit pocket. “We’ll be in touch Miss. Y/L/N.” He said. “And again, I’m sorry for you loss.” You watched as the man walked off towards the other side of the room before the other one spoke up again when the coast was clear.   
  
“The nerve of some people.” Dean muttered out in disgust. He dropped his gaze away from the man before looking down at you. His face dropped into a concerned look when he saw your red eyes. “I promise, Y/N, we’ll find the son of a bitch that did this.” He whispered, his voice growing softer.   
  
You wiped away the fallen tears and sniffled a few times, trying to compose yourself before speaking. You looked into his green eyes and said, “There’s something else that I saw, but I didn't want to say it in front of you dad.” You whispered while looking to see if the older man was around, but he was nowhere in sight. Dean nodded his head for you to continue. “Her eyes, Dean, they were yellow. A creepy, glowing yellow.” You explained in a hushed tone. “And she—it, whatever—talked about adding three extra years to a deal? Dean, what the hell was it talking about?”   
  
Dean kept quiet for a few moments, he sucked in a breath before letting go. Those green eyes looked into yours. But something was different about him, now. He was staring at you like you were some kind of monster. You noticed how his jaw was clenching in anger as you felt his fingernails dig into your shoulder blades. “You still don’t get it, do you?” His tone dropped into a rough whisper. Each word he spoke to you was laced with hatred. “Your mother had to die to pay for what she’s done. She created a monster of sin.”   
  
You tried to pry his hands off you, but it seemed that every time you moved, he would only dig deeper into your skin. You pleaded for him to stop. Dean just stared at you, his lips twitching into a smirk. “You’re a monster, Y/N. And soon, you’re gonna learn the truth about where you came from.” He hissed in an icy tone that made a shiver run down your spine.   
  
In a blink of an eye, his eyes went from a green color towards the eerily yellow that glowed with delight. You gasped at what you saw. It was back, and it was using Dean like a puppet. “And don’t forget this, sweetheart. No matter where you run, I’ll always find you. I’ll drag you down to Hell and—” _   
  
A terrified gasp escaped your throat as you jumped up in your seat, your eyelids ripping themselves open, the startling wake up call took you a moment to figure out where you were. You glanced out the backseat window to the calming scenery of tall oak trees passing you by with the familiar rock music filling your ears. You turned your head slightly to see the brothers were sitting in the front seats, everything was as it was when you first allowed you to fall asleep. Your heartbeat began to slowly ease down as you tried to control your breathing that was turning into heavy pants from the mild anxiety attack. Sitting back in your seat, you ran your fingers through your hair, matting down the stands from the small beads of sweat that formed. It happened again. You had the nightmare.   
  
It had been almost a month since you had a dream about the night that you discovered your mother’s dead body. It was a confusing turning point of your life that you had to relive again and again for almost eight years after it happened. You thought you had it under control these past few months. But it seemed it was back with vengeance, and it made up loss time with small details that made it different from the previous nightmares you had. Before you could think about it anymore, a familiar voice brought your eyes towards the front of the car again when someone called out your name.   
  
“Are you okay?”    
  
Sam’s question brought your gaze to the front of the car. He cranked his head over his shoulder and stared at you with a look in his eye that always seemed to have been fixed on worry. The youngest Winchester was the only one that knew about your nightmares, but you swore him into secrecy. You’d been wanting to keep it to yourself, afraid you would only make everyone concerned with petty drama, but it seemed too much of a burden one night. You woke up in your empty house after having the nightmare, and while you could brush it off as nothing most nights, this particular turn forced a spell of paranoia. You felt like someone was watching you. And no matter how much you tried fighting it, you broke down and called Sam, confessing everything.   
  
You nodded your head as you adjusted yourself in your seat to get yourself into a comfortable position, you cleared your throat to pretend that everything was okay when you saw Dean’s eyes dart in the rear view mirror for a moment. “Where are we?” You curiously asked, your eyes wandered around the scenery of trees and miles of empty back roads with the Impala being its only visitor. You faintly remembered the conversation you heard from the brothers about heading to Colorado from the coordinates John left in his journal for his oldest son to find.   
  
“Just outside of Grand Junction.” Dean replied, never taking his eyes off the road.   
  
Sam pulled out the paper map again so it was resting against his lap. He tried to keep himself focused on it before speaking up again, changing the subject towards a topic that all you have discussed too many times before. “You know what? Maybe we shouldn’t have left Stanford so soon.”   
  
“Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing.” Dean reminded his little brother. “If you want to find the thing that killed Jessica….”   
  
“Got to find Dad first.” Sam finished, still observing the map with little interest.   
  
“Dad disappearing, and this thing shows up again after twenty years? It’s not a coincidence.” Dean looked over at his brother. “Dad will have answers. He’ll know what to do.”   
  
“It’s weird, man.” Sam mumbled, his face scrunching up. “The coordinates he left us, this Black Water Ridge…”   
  
“What about it?” Dean asked.   
  
“There’s nothing there. It’s just woods.” Sam remarked, putting the map back down into his lap again after taking a closer look. “Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?” The two boys looked at one another, each sharing a moment of confusion before letting the car fall into a silence.   
  
A little while later, the three of you pulled up into the Ranger’s Station to find more information on the place their father pointed them towards. Sam was observing 3-D looking map, Dean was staring at some picture as you stood next to the window looking at the woods. You were always scared of heading deep into the forest for long periods of time. Maybe it was all those horror movies that you watched when you were a teenager. You kept thinking that something was out there, waiting for a prey to come and drag you to its layer and rip you limb by bloody limb. You shook your head at dumb thought. There was nothing out there except some little forest animals and—   
  
“Dude, check out the size of this frigging’ bear.” Dean said, you turned your head to land your eyes on a framed picture of a grizzly bear. And let’s not forget, the bears that roam around the forest. Not the Care Bears you grew up with. Big, scary, man-eating bears.   
  
Sam walked over from the map, crossing his arms over his chest, looking at the photograph. “…And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area. It’s no nature hike, that’s for sure.” You subconsciously gulped, you tilted your head to the side and observed the picture with more detail for a few more moments before someone had you spinning on your heels.   
  
“You kids aren’t planning to out near Blackwater Ridge, by any chance?” A voice called out. You quickly turned around to see there was a ranger standing across the room with his hands on his hips and an eyebrow raised, waiting ever so patiently for an answer.   
  
“Oh, no, sir. We’re environmental-study majors from U.C. Boulder—just working on a paper.” Sam lied, flashing an innocent smile. “Recycle, man.” Dean chuckled out, throwing his fist in the air for some added effect.   
  
“Bull.” The ranger said. You froze in fear. “You’re friends with that Hailey girl, right?” He asked. The ranger grabbed his mug of coffee before heading over towards the opposite side of his desk. You and the boys followed behind.   
  
“Yes. Yes, we are, Ranger…” You lied, quickly dropping your eyes towards his name tag. “Wilkinson.”   
  
“Well, I will tell you what exactly I told her.” The ranger explained, the three of you walking closer to hear what he was saying. “Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn’t be back from Black Water until the 24th. So it’s not exactly a missing persons now, is it? Tell that girl to quit worrying. I’m sure her brother is just fine.” He mumbled the last part, slowly walking away.   
  
“We will.” Dean said. “Well, that Hailey girl’s quite a pistol, huh?”   
  
The ranger sighed, “That’s putting it mildly.”   
  
“Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that back country permit.” Dean suggested, stepping closer towards the ranger. “You know, so she could see her brother’s return date.”   
  
Somehow in the midst of lying his ass off, Dean persuaded the ranger to give him a copy of the report. You followed behind the brothers while all of you stepped out of the office and went back walking on the dirt path, heading towards the parked Impala. Dean chuckled to himself while he looked over the piece of paper once more time. You knew he wasn’t the type of person who would look into this if there wasn’t any connection to something supernatural. He would only be doing this kind of thing for a chance to see if this girl was worth his time. Dean always seemed to lose focus of the bigger picture when a pretty face caught his eye.   
  
“What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?” You asked, not even realizing that you said it out loud, that was until you caught his gaze that seemed to be written with confusion at what you were implying.   
  
“What do you mean?” Dean questioned. His eyebrows furrowed together.   
  
“The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge. So what are we waiting for? Let’s just go find your dad. Why we need to talk to this girl anyway?” You're questioned back. But your voice was becoming harder with each word that you spoke to him, which wasn’t like you. Maybe it was because of the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements that you weren’t comfortable with. Or perhaps you were getting tired of this goose chase that John was putting his children through.   
  
“Maybe we just know what we’re walking into before we actually do it.” Dean suggested. His tone was mocking yours. You gave him a dirty glare at how childish he was acting towards you.   
  
You turned your head to ignore the returned glare that was starting to burn holes in the back of your head. After a few seconds of silence, you looked back to see that Dean kept his gaze fixated on you. Your eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. “What?” You found yourself snapping at him.   
  
“Since when are you all ‘shoot first, ask questions later’?” Dean questioned.   
  
On any normal day you would be on board to helping out and finding more about this suspicious disappearance. But you were so close to ending these nightmares and finding out the answers that you’ve been waiting for a grueling amount of time. You would be damned to let something as an overprotective person go finding out about someone that hasn’t made contact in a while. Sometimes people just don’t want to be found, they need silence. And with that thought crossing your mind, you opened up the backseat door and slid yourself inside, waiting for the brothers to follow in suit of your actions.   


* * *

The three of you arrived at the Collins’ household just as the sun was setting; you stood with your hands inside your pockets as you watched Dean press the doorbell. It was a grueling minute before the front door opened. A girl that looked to be about your age was the one who opened up the front door. You were quick to notice the confused glances she gave the three of you, looking each of you over before the oldest Winchester spoke up.  
  
“You must be Hailey Collins. I’m Dean, this is Sam and Y/N.” Dean introduced the three of you. “We’re rangers with the park service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. We wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy.”  
  
But Hailey seemed to be the smart type who didn’t fall for the speech that tried to pull, no matter the authoritative and confident tone. “Let me see some I.D.” She said. The man wasted no time and pulled out one of his fake badges for her. He pressed it up towards the screen door, letting her eyes scan over it for a few moments before looking up at the three of you again, Dean dropped his arms towards his side. It felt like an eternity passed before she said something to break the silence. “Come in.” She opened up the screen door for you to walk in, but just as you were about take your first step, her eyes landed on the parked Impala. “That yours?”  
  
“Yeah.” Dean said. He broke out into a flirtatious smile, acting as if he enjoyed the fact that she took notice.  
  
“Nice car.” Hailey admitted, nodding her head once. And with that, she turned around and headed deeper inside the house, expecting all of you to follow behind. Dean turned his head and gave his brother a smirk, the kind that could be easily translated, he was into this chick, and it was known that he was hooked for whatever she was throwing his way. You rolled your eyes and lightly pushed him to step inside the house, growing impatient.  
  
All of you managed to walk inside the house and follow the noise towards the dining room, but Hailey was nowhere in sight. You smiled politely at a boy, who looked to be just a teenager, but he didn’t break his concentration from the table when he looked up for just a second. He seemed to be lost In thought, and not even the presence of strangers would break him away from his state. You saw a flick of black hair coming from the kitchen, Haylie must have wandered in there after she let all of you in.  
  
“So, if Tommy’s not due back for a while, how do you know something wrong?” Sam asked, starting off the conversation again.  
  
Hailey came back into the dining room with two plastic bowls filled with food, she answered the question after she placed them on the table. “He checks in every day by cell. He emails photos, stupid little videos.” She said. Her voice became harder when she spoke up again. “But we haven’t heard anything in over three days now.”  
  
“Well, maybe he can’t get cell reception.” You said, raising your eyebrows.  
  
“He’s got a satellite phone, too.” Hailey remarked at you, she turned her back and walked away again.  
  
“Could it be he’s just having fun and forget to check in?” Dean questioned.  
  
The boy who had been quiet since you and the brothers been here finally spoke up again. Your eyes dropped down towards him to hear what he had to say. “He wouldn’t do that.” He almost snapped at the oldest Winchester, as if he should have known better than to throw that accusation around. You could tell the boy was stressed out from the lack of contact from his older brother, and it was coming out from his attitude.  
  
“Our parents are gone. It’s just me and my two brothers.” Hailey confessed. “We all keep pretty close tabs on each other.”  
  
You bit your bottom lip, so maybe you were being a bit harsh on this girl. You could understand her worries. The Winchesters were like your own brothers. And whenever they didn’t contact you in a while, you became nervous.  
  
“Can I see those pictures he sent you?” Sam asked, wrapping his fingers together and pointing.  
  
Hailey agreed, getting all four of you around her computer as she pulled up files of her brother, Tommy. You noticed most of them were from the camping trip. She pulled up the last video he sent her.  
  
“Hey Hailey,” Tommy said with a grin, you noticed that it was taken at night in the comfort of his tent. “Day six. We’re still out near Blackwater Ridge. We’re fine, keeping safe, so don’t worry, okay? Talk to you tomorrow.” Maybe it was you going crazy, but you swore you saw a shadow quickly run past the tent during the few seconds of the video. You looked at both the boys, but Sam was the only one that turned to look back at you, sharing the same confused look.  
  
“We’ll find your brother. We’re heading out to Black Ridge first thing.” Dean said. Your eyes wanted to bulge out of their head from the promise that the man was making towards this woman. He was getting himself himself off track towards the reason why all of you were sent here. And it wasn’t to help someone that hasn’t rang up in a few days.  
  
“Then maybe I’ll see you there.” Haley said as she brushed past Dean. Both brothers looked at one another. “Look, I can’t sit around here anymore, so I hired a guide. I’m heading out there in the morning, and I’m gonna find Tommy myself.”  
  
“I think I know you feel.” Dean muttered, Hailey looked at him.  
  
“Hey, would you mind forwarding these to me?” You asked, pointing towards the files. “I think they would help me a little better, you know.” She gave you a slightly confused look, but she nodded her head and agreed. If Dean was going into this this blind faith that something was wrong, you decided it wouldn’t hurt to figure out what the hell was going on in these woods. If there was anything. 

* * *

 

After speaking to the Collins, the three of you headed towards a local motel to get a good night’s rest before your big camping trip tomorrow. It was something you had been dreading since Dean opened his big mouth and suggested the idea. You and Sam weren’t quite happy his plans, but there was no going back. As much as you wanted to.   
  
You decided to focus your attention on the video that Hailey sent you and do a little research on the town. Sam insisted on helping you with something, so you emailed the video to him and let him figure out what was that creature dashing from outside that tent. You had a feeling it wasn’t a friendly animal that wandered away from its home.   
  
For the past hour, you had been kept up in your motel room, sitting at the small table with your laptop and a notebook open with all your notes scribbled down.   
  
Being the one to get lost in research, you almost didn’t notice that someone was at your door until you heard the sounds of the doorknob twisting around, seconds later the door slowly creaked open. Your heart nearly stopped in fear, until you saw Dean kneeling on the floor and put something back in this pocket. The idiot picked your lock.   
  
“Jesus, give me a little warning next time.” You muttered, putting your left hand back on the keyboard after it jump towards your rapidly beating heartbeat.   
  
Dean stood up and walked inside your room, his eyes scanned the scenery of you sitting at the table with your eyes still glued to the screen, not bothering to acknowledge his presence. A chuckle rang in your ears. “Is this what you’ve been doing since we got here?” You nodded as an answer. He chuckled to himself. “You’re such a nerd.” He muttered underneath his breath.   
  
“And this nerd has helped you on how many cases?” You sassed, eyes jumping to look at him. He swallowed and looked somewhere else. You rolled your eyes. “What do you want, anyway?”   
  
“Sam and I are going to grab a bite to eat. Wanna come?” He asked, pointing towards the hallway. “Or do you need to finish your homework?”   
  
“I’m gonna punch you Winchester.” You warned, eyes glazed over with annoyance. He mocked your tone and pretended to get scared. You sighed to yourself and rolled your eyes. “All you’ve been doing is running your mouth and causing problems.” You mumbled underneath your breath, putting your laptop into your bag.   
  
“Between you and Sam’s bitch fits, you think I’m the problem?” Dean asked in a tone that made him sound shocked. His eyebrows arched up as he pointed towards himself. He sarcastically laughed. “Good one, (Y/N). What’s your next joke?”   
  
“For my next trick I’m going to kill you and take the Impala. Wanna see it happen?” You threatened in the most serious tone you could muster up. But Dean wasn’t laughing, his face was hardened with protectiveness. Well, that was the last time you were going to joke about his beloved baby.   


* * *

A bar just a few minutes away from the motel was the spot the boys decided to pick. It was rather…different from what you were used to back in your hometown. It was a busy night with people crowding the place, guys playing a game of pool and waitresses passing around glasses of beer. Your eyes landed on a wall mount of a black bear with its mouth wide open, you had to turn away before your mind tricking you into thinking that it was going to rip it way through the wall and attack someone.   
  
“So, what did you come up with that research of yours?” You turned your head to look at Dean, he was staring at you, nodding towards your bag that sat on the floor.   
  
You reached for your bag, placing it on the table and pulled out your laptop and notebook. “So, Blackwater Ridge doesn’t get a lot of traffic—local campers mostly—but, still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there.” You explained, watching as Sam began to pull up the video with your laptop. “The strange thing is, they were never found.”   
  
“Any before that?” Dean asked, watching as you pulled out a newspaper article you found online.   
  
“Yeah,” You said, handing the paper to Dean and Sam to look at. “In 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack. And, again, in 1959, and again, before that in 1936—every 23 years, just like clock work.”   
  
“Okay, watch this. Here is the clincher.” Sam said, pulling up Tommy’s video. “I downloaded that guy Tommy’s video to the laptop.” He fast forwarded the video until it was just seconds away from the part that confused you. He clicked on a button a few times, letting the video go frame by frame to show you and Dean.   
  
“Do it again,” Dean said, leaning it closer to take a better look.   
  
Sam rewound the video by a few seconds and clicked it a button three times to let you see the video in slow motion. You could clearly see the shadow pass by the tent. “That’s three frames. It’s a fraction of a second.” Sam explained, “Whatever that thing is, it can move.”   
  
Dean slapped both of you on the shoulders, “I told you something weird was going on.” He stated in a matter of fact tone. You rolled your eyes.   
  
“Yeah. I got one more thing that’s gonna make you jump for joy.” You sarcastically remarked. “In the ‘59 attack, one camper survived the supposed grizzly attack, just a kid—barely crawled out of the woods alive.”   
  
“Is there a name?” Dean asked, taking a look at the article again.   
  
“Yup, Sam has his address and everything. I think we could check him out after we eat dinner.” You said, grabbing a menu and looking at what to eat. “Because I don’t know about you two, but I am starving.”   


* * *

“Look, Ranger, I don’t know why you’re asking me about this.” An older man muttered, letting the three of you into his home. You noticed the man was now well into his sixties, dressed in sweats and an old bathrobe. A cigarette was hanging out of his mouth and it looked like he hasn’t shaved in a few days. You watched as Dean closed the door behind him and looked around the place. “It’s public record.” He went on. “I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a—“   
  
“Grizzly? That’s what attacked them?” Sam questioned as the room fell silent for a few moments. With his back turned towards you, all you could see was a ring of smoke he blew out and the nodding of his head. Something inside of you told you that he was lying, there was more he wasn’t telling you.   
  
“The other people that went missing that year—those bear attacks, too?” Dean asked, taking a few steps forward towards the older man. The man blinked a few times before looking away, ignoring Dean’s questions. “What about all the people that missing this year? Same thing?”   
  
“If we know what we’re dealing with, we could stop it.” Your voice was soft, you tried to get the man to feel comfortable, but it didn’t work.   
  
Pulling out the cigarette, he looked at you straight in the eye. “I seriously doubt that.” He stated. “Anyways, I don’t see the difference it would make.” He sat down in a seat right next to the window he was once standing at, reaching for a drink and muttered, “You wouldn’t believe me. Nobody ever did.”   
  
“Mr. Shaw…” Sam took a few steps forward, slowly making his way over and taking a seat next to the man. His tone was soft and reassuring, the quality that always seemed to have people open up for him. “What did you see?”   
  
He sighed to himself, you watched as the look on his face slowly turned into some sort of pain. Like he was just remembering what he went through all those years ago. His eyes were full of sadness. “Nothing. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it, though.” His eyebrows slightly furrowed together as he recollected on the memory. “A roar…” Sam turned to look at you and Dean, before looking back at the man. “…Like no man or animal I ever heard.”   
  
“It came at night?” Sam speculated, the man nodded his head. “Got inside your tent?”   
  
“It got inside our cabin.” The man confessed. “I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn’t smash a window or break the door—it unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that could do something like that?” You had to look at the boys, something about this story made your stomach turn into knots. And it was only getting worse. “I didn’t even wake up until I heard my parents screaming.”   
  
“It killed them?” You found yourself asking, in the quietest tone you could muster.   
  
“Dragged them off into the night.” The man recalled, the sadness was becoming too much for him.   
  
Why it left me alive—I’ve been asking that myself ever since. It did leave me this, though.” You watched as he pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal four deep wounds on the left side of his collar bone. you let out a breath you didn’t even realize you were holding. You had to look away to keep from opening up old memories.   
  
“There’s something evil in those woods.” He admitted, nodding his head. “It was some sort of demon.”   
  
“T-Thank you Mr. Shaw. You’ve been a great help.” You smiled at the older man, trying your hardest to keep yourself calm and collected.   
  
You nearly jumped out of your own skin when you felt a hand press against your upper backside, you turned your head up to see it was Sam. He always hovered over you if he began to notice you were becoming nervous or uncomfortable. He smiled at the man and told him to have a good night. Both of you followed Dean out to the hall and shut the door.   
  
“Spirits and demons don’t have to unlock doors.” Dean stated, “They just go through the walls.”   
  
“So it’s probably something else—something corporeal.” Sam guessed.   
  
Dean looked over at his brother, his face was written with confusion. “’Corporeal’? Excuse me, professor?”   
  
“Shut up,” Sam remarked back. Typical brothers. “So, what do you think?”   
  
“The claws, the speed that it moves—it could be a skin walker, maybe a black dog. Whatever we’re talking about, we’re talking about a creature,” Dean stopped and looked at his brother. “And it’s corporeal, which means we can kill it.”   
  
You rolled your eyes and followed behind the brothers until both of you headed outside, you watched as Dean headed towards his trunk and opened up the secret compartment, he lifted up a shotgun to use it as a base to keep it open. He pulled out a cameo green duffel bag and began putting in different weapons inside the bag. Sam headed over and began helping.   
  
“We can’t let that Hailey girl out out there.” You declared, you knew you weren’t for this plan, but you didn’t want this girl to go out there and get hurt herself.   
  
“What are we gonna tell her—she can’t go into the woods because of a big, scary monster?” Dean muttered, looking over his shoulder to stare at you.   
  
You gave him a glare. “Yeah, I do actually. It’s not safe for her to head out there with that creature roaming around the place. She could get hurt.”   
  
“Her brother’s missing, (Y/N).” He reminded you, you rolled your eyes. “She’s not just gonna sit this out. No, we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend.”   
  
“So finding your Dad isn’t good enough?” You questioned, cocking your head to the side, watching as he pulled out the bag full of weapons. Sam was keeping quiet, but you knew he was feeling the same about this situation. He ripped the gun away and slammed the hood down. You didn’t know what happened, but your brain wasn’t connecting with your mouth when you needed it the most.   
  
“Now you’re babysitting little girls too? Do you think you’re going to swoop in and save the day again? Little Dean, thinking he’s being a saint.” You sarcastically joked. Mumbling the last sentence underneath your breath, you didn’t expect him to hear it. “But he can’t even be bothered to find his own father. What a joke.” You shook your head and looked the other way.   
  
Before you knew it, you felt a pair of hands wrap around the edges of your shirt and pull you up inches from the ground, you had to stand on your tippy toes. You whipped your head around to see Dean was centimeters from you. His face was sketched in a glare, and if looks could kill, you would be dead.   
  
“I’ve had enough with you and Sam treating me like this since we got here.” He grunted out, you felt his hot breath tickle your face. “Stop being a goddamn princess, and realize dad sent us here for a reason, and this was why.” He was almost shaking you in anger, you tried your hardest to pull away, but he was stronger than you. “Now, you can stop being a bitch and help us, or you can find your own way back home.” He stated before letting go of you, shoving you back down towards the ground.   
  
“Dean!” Sam yelled, catching you before you had the chance to fall backwards on the pavement. “What the Hell is your problem?” But his brother didn’t answer, he threw the bag towards Sam’s feet and walked to the car. The three of you didn’t say a word to each other for the rest of the night. And you were fine with that.   


* * *

The next morning, the three of you loaded up the Impala and headed towards the woods to start off this search and rescue party. You and Dean barely were on speaking turns, only grumbles or mummers between the both of you over the past few hours. You watched as the view of Hailey and her little brother Ben were getting bigger. An unfamiliar man was standing off to the side with a gun in his hands. You suspected it was Roy, the man that Hailey hired to help them navigate through the woods.   
  
Last night, you kept thinking to yourself about what you said to Dean and what Hailey was going through. Both of them were under a lot of stress. All though you lost your family, you never had to deal with the fear of never knowing where they were. So you decided that tomorrow you were going to swallow your bitterness and help this girl. It was the least you could after being an ass to Dean. All he wanted to do was help her because he knew what she was going through, nothing else.   
  
The Impala stopped as Dean turned off the engine, you opened your door with your backpack in your hands before stepping on the dirt path. Your eyes landed on Hailey, looking surprised to see the three of you. “You got room for three more?” Dean called, heading up to the group.   
  
“You want to come with us?” She asked.   
  
“Who are these guys?” Roy eyed the three of you with suspicion.   
  
“Apparently, this is all the park service could muster up.” Hailey remarked, turning her head to look at Roy.   
  
You rolled your eyes, well there goes all hope for being nice to her if she was going to keep this attitude up. Following behind Sam, you smiled at Ben and tried to ignore the small banter going back and forth between Hailey and Dean. She sure was something, all right, but you didn’t know how much you could handle for your own sanity before snapping again.   
  
“Oh, you think this is funny?” Roy asked in a serious tone, jumping into the conversation. You turned your head to look at the man. “It’s dangerous back country out there. Her brother might be hurt.”   
  
“Believe me, I know how dangerous it can be.” Dean explained. “We just want to them find their brother. That’s all.”   
  
The six of you headed into the woods without another word. You’ve gotten used to the sounds of feet crunching against dead leaves or weeds that sprouted through the dirt. For the most part, you enjoyed the sounds of birds chirping around you and the sun peaking through the trees. It was like the outside world and its problems weren’t here, you could focus on the simpler things in life.   
  
But this trip you couldn’t exactly enjoy the sights and sounds. You reminded yourself that you were helping hunt down a creature that you didn’t know what it looked like or how to kill it. You sighed to yourself, you just hoped that Tommy was out there somewhere, and still alive.   
  
“Getting tired already?” Roy asked from the front, you looked up to see him giving you a glare.   
  
You rolled your eyes and shook your head. “I’m fine,” You insisted with a fake smile. “I think you should pace yourself, though. Old age gets those bones weak and we wouldn’t want you slowing us down.” That should shut him up. He just scoffed and turned his head forward, ignoring your comment.   
  
“So Roy—you said you did a little hunting?” Dean tried to change the subject.   
  
“Yeah. More than a little.” He answered, his tone sounding bored.   
  
“Uh-huh,” Dean nodded, looking down at the ground to see where he was going. “What kind of furry creatures do you hunt?”   
  
“Mostly buck. Sometimes bear.” He answered, stopping as he observed around the place.   
  
“Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?” Dean questioned, walking a little bit further up from everyone as he looked around. You didn’t know if you should laugh or roll your eyes at his comment.   
  
But Roy didn’t seem to take so kindly to it, he grabbed Dean by the back of his collar and roughly yanked him back. Everyone stopped and looked, you clenched your jaw, waiting for something to happen. “What you doing, Roy?” Dean asked, his tone dropping lower.   
  
Roy let go of him, grabbing a stick and hitting it towards the ground. Clamp and there goes off a bear trap. He looked at Dean and smirked, “You should watch where you’re stepping…Ranger.” He muttered before walking off at his own pace.   
  
Dean stood there, staring down at the trap. “It’s a bear trap,” He chuckled out nervously.   
  
You rolled your eyes and stood next to Sam for a few seconds, he was staring down at the trap like something was off putting about it. You gave him a worried glanced, he just shook his head and began walking again to catch up with the rest of the gang. You followed behind and fell last in line, which you didn’t mind.   
  
After another few minutes of walking, Hailey spoke up, and surprise—she was complaining to Dean about something. “You didn’t pack any provisions.” She tried to walk faster to catch up with him. “You guys are carrying a duffel bag. You’re not rangers, so who the Hell are you?” She yanked Dean by his arm to stop and turn him around.   
  
Sam and you stopped behind as Dean glanced at both of you, wondering if he should speak the truth. You sighed and walked up to Dean, you leaned over and whispered. “Let me talk to her, go ahead with the rest of them.” You said as you stared into his eyes. He gave you a confused look. “Go off and do what you came here to do.” You warned, giving him a soft smile. He sighed and nodded his head towards his brother, you watched as the two of them walked off.   
  
“Sam and Dean are brothers, I’m their friend.” You explained, sighing to yourself. “I’m helping them look for their dad. He might be here, but we don’t know exactly know that. Look…Dean thought since he was in the same boat as you, he wanted to help.”   
  
“Why didn’t he tell me from the start?” Hailey asked, you wanted to laugh.   
  
“Because he’s an idiot. He likes telling people at the last very second of what’s going on. He’s not very honest with women, like, ever.” You admitting, smiling at her. She tried to smile, but all she was turn away to look at something in the distance. “Look, if it makes you feel any better, I have a feeling we’re getting closer to finding your brother. He’s out there somewhere, alive. We just need to stick together and find him before it’s too late, okay?”   
  
She was quiet for a few seconds before looking at you and nodded her head. “Okay, let’s head back.”   


* * *

Through the miles of trees and plants, you began to see an opening through the almost human sized weeds as pushed them away and walked up towards the group that stopped. “This is it—Black Water Ridge,” Roy explained, stepping out of the way so everyone could walk ahead.  
  
“What coordinates are we at?” Sam asked, walking first as he looked around the place.  
  
Roy pulled out his GPS, punching on a few buttons.”35 minus 111.”  
  
Dean stepped up towards his brother and you. “You hear that?” He muttered, you listened quietly around you. You couldn’t hear anything, dead silence.  
  
“Yeah,” Sam whispered. “Not even crickets.”  
  
“I’m going to take a look around.” Roy announced, tucking his device away as he observed the scenery.  
  
Sam, being the overprotective one, spoke up. “You shouldn’t go alone.” He suggested, turning his head to look at the older man.  
  
Roy chuckled to himself. “That’s sweet,” He replied as he began walking towards the three of you. “Don’t worry about me.” He slid between the two boys and headed off.  
  
The five of you were now alone, you all slowly grouped together as Dean stepped up and looked at all of you. “All right, everybody stays together.” He says, “Let’s go.”  
  
Everyone was about to start, until Roy’s voice boomed through the air causing all heads to turn to where the sound was coming from. “Hailey! Over here!” She took off, which caused a ripple effect, everyone went after her. All of you ran for a minute until she stopped dead in tracks, her eyes growing at what she saw. It was something that you didn’t want to see on this entire trip. Tommy’s camping sight. Or what was left of it.  
  
Everything looked like it was ripped apart, nothing was left untouched from what attacked the place. You saw that the tent was slashed apart and barely standing. Different objects laid sprawled across the grounds with the same pattern on the tents, everything looked like something had taken their claws and slashed it to bits. When your eyes landed on a pile of blood on top of the tent, your stomach twisted into knots at the sight.  
  
“Looks like a grizzly.” Someone muttered, but you couldn’t hear them, you were too busy looking around the place with horror. Whoever was camping here, you didn’t want to admit, was probably dead from the large amount of blood you saw around the place.  
  
“Tommy?” Hailey called out, stepping around the place. You watched as she unclasped her backpack and dropped it towards the floor, before bolting off and calling her brother’s name again.  
  
Sam quickly ran up to her and tried to quiet her down, he looked around the place as she questioned why. “Something might still be out there.” He whispered, cautiously observing the woods around you.  
  
“Sam, (Y/N).” You heard Dean call your name from somewhere else.  
  
The both of you excused yourself before finding Dean crouched down over something. You walked over and got down on your knees, your eyes observed what looked to be the kind of long marks. “The bodies were dragged from the campsite.” He said, looking at the two of you. “But here, the tracks just vanish. It’s weird.” The three of you stood back up as you looked around again.  
  
“I’ll take a guess, it’s not a skinwalker or a black dog?” You asked, looking back at Dean. He just nodded his head and walked back towards the rest of the group with Sam following behind, leaving you alone.  
  
Sighing to yourself, the question if Dean was still mad at you from last night was answered. You knew you were wrong from what you said. You tried to gain the courage and tell him that you were sorry. But he was so focused on helping this Hailey girl, you didn’t want to catch him off guard and have a repeat of last night.  
  
You looked at the tracks again, something wasn’t adding up right about these. How could they just go for a certain distance and then just stop? If you were a monster and you wanted to make a quick getaway with your pray, what would be the best way with claws? You turned your head up and looked up at the trees trees surrounding you. You walked around the forest and started examining each tree, anything out of the ordinary. You were farther away from the camp sight than you intended, but you found something you were looking for.  
  
Turning your head up, you saw a handful of trees marked with claw marks. It looked like someone had done it with a bloody hand. Like something you would expect from a monster that drags their bloody pray away.  
  
“Help! Somebody help me!”  
  
In the distance, you heard the sound of someone shouting deep into the woods, but not far enough from where you were. You rushed back towards the camp sight as fast as you could. You ran all the way back and let out a heavy breath. Your eyes ran across the place expecting somebody, but nobody was there. Not even the belongings that people dropped.  
  
You swallowed in fear, your eyes dashing around the camp sight to see if anything was around. It was hard to hear anything with your heartbeat pounding in your ears. But something was clear, a growling sound from the not so far distance.  
  
All you remember after that was the scream that erupted from your throat and blackness that followed afterward. 

* * *

 

The aching pain was the first thing you registered from your moments of drifting in and out of consciousness, for however long ago that was. Your body felt tired and heavy, it was almost impossible to keep yourself up. But you didn’t have much of a choice, your arms were pinned above your head with some sort of chain. You dangled off the thing like some sort of dead pig, hooked in a butcher’s freezer, waiting to be picked and cut up for someone’s next meal.   
  
You tried to laugh at your horrible joke, slowly piecing together that this monster ate its victims. But all that came out was a wheezing sound that made your stomach ache in pain. It felt like you ripped open a line of newly sewn stitches and the skin suddenly busted up even more. The damn thing must have clawed your stomach while it dragged you, giving you scratches that would last for a while. If you ever managed to live long enough to see them heal.   
  
You nervously gulped, you tried to remind yourself that the boys were out there looking for this thing. It took Tommy, and now it had you. There was no chance they were going to give up and stop searching. But what if you didn’t survive long enough for them to find you? No, you were going to find you alive, and everything will be okay. You tried to tell yourself that over and over again.   
  
But all hope you mustered up was lost when you heard the sounds of screams and pleas echo through the place. You closed your eyes as hard as you could and prayed you weren’t next.   
  
_ (Previously: The Winchesters Point of View.) _   
  
Everyone stood on guard as they peaked through the branches and plants to see anything out of the ordinary, waiting to hear the screams for help. But it never came. The only sounds around them were just the whistling of the wind and scratching of tree branches. It was quiet for a few more seconds, they were somewhat safe for now. Sam opened his mouth to get back to camp, but a terrified scream erupted from another part of the woods. He suspected the thing was getting closer.   
  
“Everybody back to camp.” Sam stated, not bother to wait for anyone as he began to jog back towards the sight. Everyone followed behind without question.   
  
When they headed back, something was out of place. It took a few moments to realize all of their gear and belongings suddenly had vanished. Sam and Dean darted around, looking for the thing that could have taken it, but the woods around them appeared to be empty.   
  
“Our packs!” Hailey noticed, her eyes wandering around the place to see where they went. But there was nothing to see except the vandalized belongings they found earlier.   
  
Roy wandered around until he stopped at a certain spot and crouched down on the ground. “So much for my GPS and satellite phone.” He muttered to himself.   
  
“What the Hell is going on?” Hailey questioned, looking over at Sam.   
  
Sam looked around, he shook his head. “It’s smart. It wants to cut us off so we can’t call for help.”   
  
“You mean someone—some nut job out there just stole our gear.” Roy wondered, curiously turning his head around to see if he could find the culprit.   
  
Sam mentally counted the people around him, he came up with five, he was one short. His eyes darted around the place to see if you were around, but it looked like you had vanished from sight. Not the one to jump towards worst case scenario, he walked over towards his brother. “I need to speak with you…in private.” He whispered, nodding his head towards another part of the woods.   
  
The boys walked for a minute until they were a safe distance from everyone else. “Where’s (Y/N)?” Sam asked, hoping his brother could have an answer that’s been burning inside his mind.   
  
Dean shrugged his shoulders, trying his hardest to see where he lost saw her. “I don’t kn—“ Before he could finish his sentence, his face fell in panic when he remembered. “Son of a bitch…Son of a bitch!” He hissed to himself before looking at his little brother. “I left here alone with that thing just crawling around her.” He spat out with anger. “I’m gonna kill—“   
  
“Let me see Dad’s journal.” Sam demanded. “We need to figure out what this thing is before we can find a plan to kill it.” Dean opened his jacket and pulled out the journal, handing it towards his brother’s awaiting hands. Sam flipped through a few pages of the book until he found what he was looking for. “All right. Check that out.” He turned the book so Dean could see what he presumed the creature was.   
  
“Oh, come on.” Dean muttered, taking the journal and shaking his head at the findings. “Windigos are in the Minnesota woods or northern Michigan. I’ve never heard of one this far west.”   
  
“Think about it Dean—the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice.” Sam informed, looking around at the woods.   
  
His brother mumbled something underneath his breath as he rolled his eyes, he held up his gun and sighed. “Well, then this is useless.” He muttered to himself.   
  
Sam sighed and walked away, before he did, he turned around and said what’s been burning in the back of his mind. “We got to get these people to safety.” He informed before heading back to the sight to talk to the group.   
  
“All right listen up. It’s time to go.” Sam declared, walking up towards Roy. “Things have gotten more complicated.”   
  
“What?” Hailey hissed out, but she was ignored.   
  
Roy chuckled, he looked at the younger boy and smiled. “Whatever out there, I’m think I can handle it.” He stated, turning his back and began to do something else.   
  
“If you shoot this thing, you’re going to make it mad.” Sam warned, looking at Roy. “We have to leave now.”   
  
“One, you’re talking nonsense, two, you’re in no position to be give anybody orders..” Roy’s voice was getting louder with anger.   
  
Sam clenched his jaw and pulled back his anger from hurting the man. “We should have never let you come out here in the first place. I’m trying to protect you.”   
  
“You protect me?” Roy slowly stepped forward, his voice was becoming harsher. “I was hunting in these woods when your momma was still kissing you goodnight.”   
  
“It’s a damn-near-perfect hunter,” Sam stated, starring Roy straight in the eyes. “It’s smarter than you. And it’s gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here.”   
  
Roy just laughed, pushing Sam roughly. “Is that what happened to your little friend? She suddenly goes missing when there’s this thing roaming around the woods?” He taunted, taking one step closer. “You know you’re crazy, right?”   
  
“Yeah?” Sam questioned, his tone becoming lower with anger. “You ever hunt—“   
  
Before he could finish his sentence, Dean shoved his little brother so he couldn’t lunge at Roy. “Chill out.” He warned, pointing a finger, acting as if he was scolding a screaming toddler.   
  
“Stop it. Just everybody stop it.” Haley shouted, stepping forward. “Look, I don’t know what happened to (Y/N), but I know that Tommy might still be alive. And I’m not leaving without them.”   
  
It was quiet for a few moments between the group, Dean looked around. “It’s getting late.” He observed the sky before looking at everyone. “This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We’ll never beat it in the dark—not in the dark.” He stated, he paused for a few moments. “We need to settle in and protect ourselves.” He said before walking a few steps and getting prepared for the night ahead.   


* * *

Night fell quicker than expected, a fire crackled behind Dean as he sketched a symbol in the dirt with a stick he found on the ground before heading back towards the group that was circled around the fire.   
  
“One more time. That’s a—“ Hailey asked, watching as he went towards another spot and did the same drawing in the dirt.   
  
“Anasazi symbols. It’s for protection.” Dean explained. “The Windigo can’t cross over them.”   
  
Roy watched over him as he stood there with his gun perched on his shoulder. Laughter erupted from him, “Nobody like a skeptic, boy.” Dean said, looking up at the man. He just gave a glare towards the man and dropped the stick.   
  
Dean stood back up and walked over towards his brother who was away from the group. Sam sat there in his thoughts, and if he did that for too long, he knew his little brother would get himself worked up. He sat down and looked over at his brother. “You want to tell me what’s going on in that freaking head of yours?”   
  
Sam didn’t break his concentration from the ground. “Dean…” He warned, putting his hand up to mumble a lie, but his brother was quick to catch on.   
  
“No, you’re not fine.” Dean said, “You’re like a powder keg, man. It’s not like you. I’m supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?” He tried to joke, but his brother just kept quiet.   
  
“Dad’s not here.” Sam muttered, not bothering to look up. “I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?”   
  
“Yeah, you’re probably right….To tell you the truth,” Dean confessed. “I don’t think Dad’s ever been to Lost Creek.”   
  
Both brothers looked up at each other. “Then let’s get these people back to town, see where (Y/N) is hiding and let’s hit the road…find Dad. I mean, why are we still here?” He threw a stick he was holding in anger, sighing to himself in frustration.   
  
Dean stood up and walked over so he was crouched down and eye level towards Sam. He pulled out the journal and tapped his top hand against the leather. “This is why…this book.” He explained, his finger tapping against it. “This is Dad’s most single most valuable possession. Everything he knows about evil thing is in here. And he passed it on to the three of us. I think we wants us to pick up where he left off—you know, saving people, hunting things….the family business.”   
  
Sam was quiet, trying to make sense of what came out of his brother’s mouth. He shook his head and looked down at the ground. “That makes no sense.” He said, rubbing his face with his hands. “Why—Why doesn’t he just call us? Why doesn’t he just tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?”   
  
Dean shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know.” He admitted, “But the way I see it, Dad’s given us a job to do, and I intend to do it.”   
  
Sam looked at his brother. “Dean…” He whispered, shaking his head. “No. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica’s killer. We need to find (Y/N) before it’s too late.” He looked off into the distance and sighed. “it’s the only thing I’ve been thinking about.”   
  
“Okay. All right. Sam, we’ll find them. I promise.” Dean consoled his brother. “Listen to me. You’ve got to prepare yourself. I mean, this search for Dad could take a while. And all that anger,” He softly pushed his brother. “You can’t keep it burning over the long haul. It’s going to kill you. You’ve got to have patience, man.”   
  
Sam shook his head, looking at his brother. “How do you do it?” He asked, letting out a chuckle. “How does Dad do it?”   
  
“Well, for one, them.” Dean nudged his head towards the side. “I mean, I figured our family’s so screwed to Hell, maybe we can help some others. It makes things a little more bearable.” The two of them focused on Hayley and Ben, they had been sitting at the fire, trying to keep each other's mind occupied from the overwhelming feeling of doom that lingered around in the air. Hope wasn’t lost, they kept pushing for the idea that things would be okay.   
  
“And I’ll tell you what else helps. Killing as many evil sons of bitches I can.” Dean added, smirking when he saw his brother smile softly. ”And I promise you we are going to find what took (Y/N). She’s a strong headed girl, she can take of herself for the meantime. Hell, she’s probably thinking in that pretty head of hers ways to kill this son of a bitch, then us after she finds us.” Sam had to chuckle at the thought of her, standing there with that stupid glare on her face whenever she got mad at the two boys for doing something she disapproved of.   
  
He had to admit, all three of them had seen things, been through so many different scary situations that couldn’t be explained. The Winchesters had to remind themselves daily that just because you were female and smaller than them, you wasn’t afraid to go down kicking and screaming if you felt threatened enough.   
  
But the moment was ruined when he heard it screaming again, wanting one of them to become its next prey. Sam and Dean stood up, grabbing a flashlight as they walked up to investigate. The sounds of a gun cocking and rustling in the woods just a few feet away wasn’t something they wanted to hear.   
  
“It’s try to draw us out. Just stay cool. Stay put.” Dean said in a calm tone, looking around.   
  
“Inside the magic circle?” Roy taunted, laughing at how it sounded. But the sounds of pleas and helps soon turned into a growl that echoed through the forest. He instantly regretted those words, pointing his gun towards the trees. “Okay, that’s no grizzly.”   
  
“It’s okay,” Hailey tried to comfort her little brother as they backed away. “We’ll be alright. I promise.”   
  
Everything happened too fast, the sounds of screams and bushes rusting, then the sounds of a gunshot going off was heard. Roy turned around as he saw a ghostly figure pass him, he aimed his gun and shot again, the sound of the creature being wounded was the sound of victory to him. “I got it!” He cheered, before running after the thing,ignoring Dean’s shouts and protests for him to get back.   
  
“Don’t move,” Dean warned towards Haley and Ben, she wrapped her arm around her brother and pushed him back to safety.   
  
The two brothers ran into the woods and after the man, Dean called the older man’s name several times. As they walked further and further, they couldn’t find Roy anywhere. The brothers looked at one another in defeat.   
  
Roy was so caught up in the search of hunting this thing down, he stopped and began to look around the woods to see where it could have gone. However he didn’t seem to notice a pair of hands sneak out from where he was standing under and twist his neck, snapping him like a tree branch. He was dead before he touched the ground.

* * *

  _S tanding on your toes, your hands wrapped around the edges of the smooth wood as you tried your hardest to take a look at the sleeping toddler inside the playpen. You saw him breathing softly as his little tummy move up and down, he was okay. Something inside your four year old mind wanted you to check up on little Sammy.  
  
You were in your bedroom when you had the idea.You saw that Dean was sound asleep on the floor next to you, snuggled deep into his sleeping bag. You slipped out of yours and slowly made your way down the hall and headed towards your mother’s bedroom, where the little toddler slept peacefully in the playpen across her bed. You smiled and sighed in relief, everyone was fine.  
  
“What are you doing Monkey?” You turned your head to see your mother was sitting up in bed, her eyelids were barely open, but she made out your figure through the cracks of sunshine through the windows. “It’s six in the morning, go back to bed.” She whispered in a sleepy voice.  
  
“I just wanted to see if he was all right.” You explained, stepping down and approaching your mother’s bed. She smiled and leaned over, kissing the top of your forehead.  
  
“Sweetheart, go back to sleep.” She said, slipping her hands around your tiny shoulders and squeezing them softly. “You can be a worry wart when I have at least a bit of caffeine in me. Besides,” She moved some hair out of your face, smiling at you. “Dean and you have a big day ahead of you before Mr. Winchester gets back from his trip and we leave for (Y/N/S).”  
  
You frowned at the thought, you didn’t want to leave the boys behind. But your mother was moving the both of you towards another state tomorrow night. This was going to be your last day with them for however long you were meant to be apart. When your mother told you the news, you wished every night, that no matter what, the boys would somehow find their way back to you. You didn’t want anyone else leaving you so suddenly like your father did just a few years ago.  
  
“Okay.” Was all you managed to say before turning around and leaving the bedroom and heading back to yours. You slipped yourself back into the sleeping bag and closed your eyes. You tried your hardest to block out the sounds of Dean twisting and turning around in his makeshift bed. You opened your eyes and stared at the boy with annoyance, but he was already looking at you with those green eyes of his.  
  
He was lying on his stomach, resting his head on his elbows as he tried to smile, but all he could managed was a crooked one, keeping himself from crying. “(Y/N),” He whispered softly as if your mother would jump in at any moment to yell at you for talking. His voice became broken when he spoke up again. “I don’t want you to go just yet.”  
  
“I don’t like (Y/N/S). I want to stay here with you and Sammy.” You were on the verge of crying, but he hushed you as he quickly slipped out of his sleeping bag and tried to comfort you.”I hate my mom, she’s so stupid!” You cried out, but Dean was quick to scold you.  
  
“Don’t say that.” He hissed, looking at you with anger. He tried to calm himself down and smiled. “We still have today to do a whole bunch of fun things before you leave.” Dean’s tone was softer. But you cried harder and sobbed. He tried to think of something to make you stop. “Stop crying, you’re making me feel bad.” He admitted, frowning.  
  
“Why?” You took a shaky breath in, sniffling as you dried your tears with the back of your hand.  
  
“Because you little twerp, I’m the oldest. I have to protect you.” He said sternly. You smiled at how he puffed out his chest and pretended to look manly. “As as the oldest, I am going to make sure nothing bad happens to you.”  
  
“I can protect myself.” You frowned, sitting up straighter. “My mom says I’m a very so-sophisticated young lady.” You smiled and crossed your arms over your chest.  
  
“Sophisticated.” Dean corrected you, rolling his eyes. “Four year olds, they think they know everything.”  
  
“Hey! I’m going to be five in this many months.” You put up your fingers to count, but you couldn’t remember how long until your birthday was. Dean giggle and you frowned. “Fine. If you are going to be the protector. I want to be the smart one. My mom says I can read at first grade level.” You said, crossing your arms over your chest. “But what is Sam going to be?”  
  
Dean shrugged his shoulders, “I guess we’ll have to find out when we’re older.” You felt your stomach twist into knots at the thought of growing up without the both of them. But you reminded yourself that no matter what, they would find their way back to you like you wished._  


* * *

Your eyelids wouldn’t open, but you knew you were awake from the sounds of footsteps echoing off the walls and hushed voices as they were coming up closer and closer. You tried your hardest to keep still and pretend you were unconscious, thinking if you fooled the creature, maybe it would go away again. It had come back just a little while ago, why was it back again? Maybe it was here to select its next meal, you felt your breathing stop when you heard the sounds of soft breathing and footsteps approach you. This was it, you told yourself, goodbye living. Welcome to the wonderful world of being a delicious meal towards this monster.

“(Y/N)?” A hushed voice whispered your name as you felt two fingers press themselves against the crook of your neck, as if someone was taking your pulse. “Oh my God.” You slowly opened one of your eyes to see someone you never thought you would lay eyes on ever again.   
  
“Sam.” You tried to speak, but only came out as a horse whisper. He shushed you as you felt your feet touch the ground, your arms dropping towards the side. A sigh of relief escaped your lips as you rubbed your aching wrists and looked around at the group. Hailey and Ben were hovering around an unfamiliar face, your mind connecting towards Tommy, he was alive.   
  
Sam was at your side as you tried your hardest to keep your body standing. But gravity and exhaustion set in at the same time as you felt your knees give out from not standing for so long. Quickly you felt two hands wrap around your arms and steady your body. “Easy there,” You heard him mumble as you tried your hardest to lean yourself against him. “We gotta get out here. Think you can make it?” He asked.   
  
You sucked in a breath and nodded your head. Trying to ignore the pain that was shooting inside your entire body, you walked slowly through what looked to be an underground cave. The Collins were huddled together , trying to keep themselves supported as the brothers cautiously looked around as they tried to pick up anything suspicious. Everything seemed to be going fine, until that growling sound echoed throughout the cave, sending a shiver of fright down your spine.   
  
Sam held up the flare gun that Dean had found on the ground as he looked around to see where it was coming from. “Looks like someone is home for supper.” Dean commented.   
  
“We’ll never outrun it,” Hailey commented as she adjusted Tommy’s arm that laid over her shoulder. You threw her a glare as you clutched your stomach, the pain becoming worse with each step you took.   
  
Dean looked over at Sam, “You thinking what I’m thinking?” He asked.   
  
“Yeah, I think so.” Sam said as the growling started again.   
  
“All right listen to me.” Dean instructed as he looked at the four of you. “Stay with Sam. He’s gonna get out of here.”   
  
“Dean, what are you going to do?” You quickly asked.   
  
He didn’t say anything, he just winked at you before running off and be the idiot that he was, drawing out the monster. You clenched your jaw and hoped that he wouldn’t end up dead. “It’s chow time, you freakin’ Bastard!” He yelled as he vanished until you could only see his dark silhouette through the cracks of light. “Yeah, that’s right! Bring it on, baby! I taste good!”   
  
You watched as he now disappeared, but his voice could still be heard. The growls slowly started to get smaller as Sam slowly edged himself towards where Dean had run off to. When he saw the coast was clear, he looked at the four of you. “All right, come on. Let’s go!” He said as all of you ran as fast as you could.   
  
As you walked through the tunnels, you swore you could hear the growling come back. Sam turned around and inspected the tunnel as the noises continued, but there looked to be nothing there. “Get out here,”He instructed, Hailey opened her mouth to protest, but Sam was quicker. “Go!” He shouted, watching as the three of them try their hardest to run their way out here. “You too, (Y/N).” He warned in a threatening tone.   
  
“Hell no.” You hissed. “I intend to help, now let’s go.”   
  
But Sam wasn’t having your heroine act, “Get out here before you get yourself killed.” He hissed, shoving you towards the tunnel.   
  
You looked back one more time before trying your hardest to run. You managed to catch up with Hailey and her brothers as they tried to make it safety. You slipped your hand around Hailey’s shoulders as you tried your hardest to bare her weight as all of you helped carry her brother out. Adrenaline was pumping through your body faster and faster, your body didn’t hurt as much as you could almost see the tunnel slowly come to an end. All you were almost there.   
  
But the feeling was short lived when you heard the sounds of gunshots and growls, then running as you twisted your head around to see that Sam was rushing towards the four of you. “Hurry, hurry, hurry! Go!” He demanded as you saw a glimpse of the monster, you quickly turned around and tried your hardest to push yourself to go faster for the safety of everyone.   
  
Everything was short lived when the monster backed all of you into a corner. Sam shoved all you behind him as he tried his hardest to shield you from the monster that was slowly crawling around the place. Your eyes watched as it growled and snarled, just slowly creeping in on its next biggest meal. You held in a breath as it stopped and screamed, like a victory battle.   
  
“Hey!” Your eyes landed on Dean, who was standing not so far away with the flare gun pointing at the creature. He shot it straight in the stomach, the flares slowly turning into flames. You watched as it screamed in pain, then poof, all of what was left of it became a corpse on fire. “Not bad, huh?” You rolled your eyes and smiled.

* * *

You sat in the back of an ambulance as you watched a paramedic stitch up one of your last cuts before quickly making sure the wound was clean from all the dried blood and dirt that he found. Your body felt heavy and tired, but you weren’t in much pain. It was probably from the anesthetics he put in your stomach so you wouldn’t feel the needle sew back up.   
  
He placed two gauze bandages on the new stitches and then smiled up at you. “Good as new.” He said. “You’re one lucky girl, (Y/N). If you didn’t move as fast as you did, the bear’s claws could have sliced you deeper. Thankfully the cuts aren’t too deep to get worried about.” He explained as he snapped off his rubber gloves.   
  
You nodded your head as he handed you a small paper cup and a bottle of water. “This is for the pain you’re going to feel once you stand up. Take them now and you’ll be sleeping like a baby in fifteen minutes.”   
  
You popped the pills and took a swing of the water, swallowing, you waited for the medication to kick in. You heard someone softly knock on the metal door as you looked to see that Dean was standing next to the ambulance as he smiled at you. “How is she, doc?” He asked as he stepped inside and sat next to you.   
  
“She’ll survive. Just make sure she cleans her wound everyday and doesn’t do any heavy lifting. I don’t want those stitches popping open and getting an infection.” The paramedic explained before excusing himself and headed out to help somewhere else.   
  
You pulled down your shirt and focused on the new holes. You tried your hardest to muster up the courage to speak, but Dean beat you to it. “I’m sorry,” You heard him mumble. “I shouldn’t have left you there, alone.”   
  
“Shouldn’t I be the one saying sorry?” You asked, trying your hardest to smile. “I shouldn’t have acted the way I did or say all those mean things. I feel so guilty for being such an ass. So if you want to send me home, I won’t throw a tantrum to make me stay. If you want me gone, I’ll stay gone.”   
  
“Are you done?” He asked, you sighed and nodded your head. “Sam and I don’t want you to leave. Who’s gonna make sure we stay out of trouble and go to bed a decent hour?”   
  
You softly laughed, but that turned into a yawn. The medication must be setting in because you felt like you were on cloud nine, everything felt lovely as you grinned at Dean. “Let’s go, babe. I’m tired and I want to sleep so badly.” You muttered as you tried to keep your eyelids from closing.   
  
He laughed to himself as you felt him scoop you into his arms like a child, carrying you to the Impala and softly place you in the backseat without hurting you. You noticed that something was different. Sam was in the driver’s seat and Dean walked over to the passenger side. You opened your mouth to question why his little brother got to drive, instead of you. But all you did was slouch down even further into your seat and let the sleepiness you’ve been fighting take over your body. The last thing you heard was the sound of the engine and someone commenting on how cute you looked while all tired out.


	3. Dead in the Water.

Newspapers and empty dishes from today’s breakfast sat scattered on the diner’s counter top. Your pen tapped itself against an obituary of a seventy year old woman that passed away in her sleep as your eyes scanned one about a thirty year old man that was shot and killed while he was unlocking his car. Death; it could come when you’re sleeping or just wanting to go home after a long day at the office.   
  
Dean sat across from you, scribbling or circling obituaries that seemed out the ordinary enough to check out. You saw that he circled one several times for a teenage girl. You opened your mouth to say something, but the waitress came over and so rudely interrupted you.   
  
“Can I get you anything else?” She asked with a flirtatious smile, only looking at Dean. She leaned over the table and made sure her cleavage was well placed for him to see. You wanted to gag at how desperate she was for his attention, or the tips she was trying to draw out of him.   
  
Dean looked up, the pen he was holding was now pressed against his lower lip. He couldn’t help himself but smile back. “Check, please.” You heard Sam speak up as he slipped back into his seat. She smiled and nodded, walking away towards another table.   
  
You watched as Dean dropped his head towards the table before turning and looking at his brother with annoyance. “You know, Sam, us men,” He gestured towards him and Sam, ignoring your dirty look. “Are allowed to have fun once in awhile.” He pointed towards the waitress strutting in her daisy duke shorts as she walked back towards the kitchen. “That’s fun.”   
  
You rolled your eyes, leaning over to point your finger towards the obituary that Dean circled. “Enough with your ‘manly’ needs. Can we focus on what we were doing?” You asked impatiently.   
  
Dean dropped the newspaper so you and Sam could see, his finger pointed towards her photo. “I think I found something. Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week, Sophie Carlton, 18, walks into the lake, doesn’t walk out.” Dean explained as you glanced up from the paper to look at him. “Authorities dragged the water—nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of the bodies were found, either. They had a funeral two days ago.”   
  
“Funeral?” Sam questioned, tone was as if it was the most obscured thing he heard.   
  
You shrugged your shoulders. “People bury an empty casket when someone vanishes, mostly after a long period of time. Or when they can’t find a dead body, in this case.“ You gestured towards the paper. "It gives them a feeling of complete. Kind of like closure.”   
  
“Closure? What closure? People just don’t disappear. Other people just stop looking for them.” Sam remarked. You clenched your jaw, waiting for what was about to happen next between the brothers that’s been lingering in the air. You had your turn, now it was Sam’s.   
  
Dean looked up and stared at his brother, “Something you want to say to me?”   
  
Sam quietly sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “The trail for Dad—it’s getting colder everyday.”   
  
“What are we supposed to do?” Dean questioned as he leaned over to make himself seem more threatening so he could draw out a proper answer.   
  
“I don’t know. Something. Anything.” Sam ranted on, his eyes jumping around the place, trying to ignore his brother’s icy glare.   
  
Dean was getting angry, his tone was became sharp. “I’m getting sick of this attitude. You don’t think I want to find Dad as much as you do? I’m the one that’s been with him every single day for the past two years while you’ve been to college going to prep rallies. We will find Dad, but until then, we’re going to kill everything bad between here and there, okay?”   
  
You sighed and rolled your eyes. These boys were giving you a pounding headache, and it wasn’t even noontime. “I’m getting a migraine from just the thought of you two still going on about the same thing. We’ve established both arguments and I’ve come to a conclusion. Can we please focus on this case?” You groaned, rubbing your temples in frustration.   
  
Sam just rolled his eyes and sighed at his brother. He was quiet for a few moments until he turned the newspaper more towards him. “Alright, Lake Manitoc.” He said, getting himself prepared for discussion of the case, but Dean lost focus.    
  
You saw the waitress walking towards the three of you, Dean was now staring at her ass. You lifted your hand up and whacked him upside the head. “Hey!” You warned, he looked back at you with a dazed look. You sighed to yourself. “How far is your head up your own ass?” You sarcastically remarked as he only chuckled before giving you a dirty look. “How far is Lake Manitoc? I think we found ourselves a case, boys.”   


* * *

As the three of you drove towards Lake Manitoc, the scenery showed a small town that seemed pleasant and almost had that homey feeling. Anyone could suspect that nothing bad could happen here. But there was, and it was your job to help and find out what was going on that was causing all of these mysterious vanishes.   
  
The Impala stopped in front of the Carlton household, all of you exited the car and headed up to the porch. Dean knocked on the front door as all of you waited for someone to answer. A few seconds later, a man seeming in his early twenties answered the door, “Will Carlton?” Dean asked, it must have been the victim’s older brother.   
  
“Yeah, that's right.” Will said, observing the three of you.   
  
“I’m Agent Ford,” Dean introduced himself before pointing towards Sam that was standing on his left. “This is Agent Hamill,” He then pointed towards you, who was standing on his right. “And this is Agent Jones. We’re with the U.S. Wildlife Service.” He flashed his fake badge towards Will. “We’d like to ask you a few questions about your sister, Sophie.”   
  
Will nodded, he closed the front door behind him as he gestured for the three of you to follow him towards the lake. As you stopped about a yard from the body of water, Will began to explain what happened on the day she disappeared.   
  
“She was about a hundred yards out. That’s where she got dragged down.” He looked at the lake for a few moments before turning back to the three of you.   
  
“Are you sure she didn’t just drown?” Dean asked, looking at Will.   
  
“She was a varsity swimmer. She practically grew up in that lake.” Will said with a small smile as he turned to look at the lake again before his face dropped in sadness. “She’s as safe out there as in her own bathtub.”   
  
“So no splashing, no signs of distress?” Sam questioned.   
  
Will swallowed and shook his head. “No, that’s what I’m telling you.”   
  
“Did you see any shadows in the water, maybe some dark shape breach the surface?” Sam looked at the lake for a few seconds before making eye contact with Will again.   
  
“No, again, she was really far out there.” Will admitted, crossing his arms over his chest.   
  
“You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?” Dean wondered.   
  
“No, never. Why? What do you think is out there?” Will asked, his face was growing with concern from all these peculiar questions being thrown around.   
  
“We’ll let you know as soon as we do.” Dean explained as the two brothers began to walk off towards the car, but you stood in your spot. Your eyes were kept on the man that was sitting on the dock’s.   
  
“What about your father?” You asked, eyes jumping towards Will again. “Can we talk to him?”   
  
Will didn’t seem so happy with the idea. Sighing to himself, he turned around to glance at his father before looking back at you. “Look, if you don’t mind, I mean, he didn’t see anything, and he’s kind of been through a lot.”   
  
You nodded your head and softly smile. “I understand. Thank you for your time.” You said before turning around and following behind the boys, heading back into the car and driving towards your next stop.   


* * *

“Now, I’m sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?” The sheriff asked, walking from the front counter towards the three of you so he could let you into the back.   
  
“You sure it’s accidental?” Sam asked as he followed behind the officer. “Will Carlton saw something grab his sister.” He was lying–that wasn’t something you’d expect out of little Sammy.   
  
“Like what? Here, sit, please.” The officer gestured towards two chairs that sat across from his desk as he continued to stand. You took a seat as Sam sat down next to you, Dean stood behind you. “There are so indigenous carnivores in that lake. There’s nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness monster.”   
  
“Nessie resides in Scotland waters. It would be impossible for it to travel since her location isn’t even connected towards any oceans.” You reminded, causing the two boys to look at you with disbelief of what came out of your mouth. You smiled and shrugged your shoulders, trying to brush off the embarrassment.“But yeah, whatever.”   
  
“Will Carlton was traumatized,” The sheriff put his hands on the desk as he leaned forward. “And sometimes, the mind plays tricks.” He took a seat and continued on, looking back and forth while he spoke. “Still, we dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep just to be sure, and there was nothing down there.”   
  
“That’s weird, though.” Dean said he leaned forward slightly. “That’s the third missing body this year.”   
  
“I know,” The sheriff agreed as he nodded his head. “These are people from my town. These are people I care about.” Dean nodded his head as the sheriff sighed and leaned back. “Anyway…” He threw his hands up in the air, trying to make sense. “All this—it won’t be a problem much longer.”   
  
“What do you mean?” You asked with confusion.   
  
“Well, the damn,of course.” The sheriff said.   
  
“Of course. The dam.” You nodded your head and smiled. “It uh…it sprung a leak, right?”   
  
“It’s falling apart,” The sheriff corrected you as he explained. “And the feds won’t give us the grant to repair it. So they’ve opened the spillway. In another six months, there won’t be much of a lake.” He leaned forward in his seat again. “There won’t be much of a town, either,” You were a bit taken back by the news. “But as a Federal Wildlife, you already knew that.”   
  
“Exactly,” You said as you nodded your head again.   
  
Suddenly a female voice was heard, you turned around to see a woman staring at the three of you. “Sorry, am I interrupting? I can come back later.”   
  
Everyone stood up as you observed the woman, she smiled at all three of you. “Gentleman, uh, lady,” The sheriff awkwardly said, “This is my daughter.   
  
Dean, being Dean, walked right up to her and pulled his hand out for her to shake. That boy never misses a beat when a pretty girl enters the room. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Dean.” He introduced himself as he smiled at her.   
  
She took his hand and shook it, smiling back. “Andrea Bar. Hi.” You wanted to roll your eyes when you heard Dean say hello back in a flirty tone.   
  
“They’re from the Wildlife Service about the lake.” The sheriff explained.   
  
Andrea’s face dropped as she looked at the three of you. “Oh,” She said. Your eyes landed on a little boy that peaked out from her. He stood by her side and seemed a little shy being in front of you.   
  
“Oh, hey there.” Dean smiled at the boy. “What’s your name?”   
  
But the boy didn’t say anything in return, he just turned around and walked out as Andrea followed behind. “His name is Lucas.” The sheriff answered. You watched as Andrea joined him at a small table as he drew a picture. She pulled out a crayon and talked to him softly.   
  
“Is he okay?” You heard Sam ask.   
  
“My grandson’s been through a lot. We all have.” The sheriff admitted, but he changed the subject. “Well, if there’s anything else I can do for you,” He said while walking towards the front door of his office, “Please let me know.” You thanked him as all you walked out his office, but Dean stopped right across from Andrea.   
  
“You know, now that you mentioned it,” Dean said as she stood up and looked up at him. “Could you point us in the direction of the nearest motel?”   
  
Andrea smiled, “Lakefront Motel—go around the corner, it’s two blocks up.” She said, you smiled at her and took a step to follow her directions, but Dean wasn’t done trying to reel her in.   
  
He lifted up a finger for you and Sam to stop. “Two—would you mind showing us?” Andrea chuckled at the strange request.   
  
“You want her to walk two blocks?” You asked, crossing your arms over your chest. Dean turned his head towards you, giving you a look to shut up.   
  
“Not if that’s any trouble for her.” He said while turning around and looking at Andrea.   
  
“I’m headed that way anyway.” She turned around and looked at her father. “I’ll be back to pick up Lucas at three o'clock.” She then leaned down and kissed her son on the forehead. “We’ll go to the park, okay, sweetie?” He kept quiet. She stood up and walked so all you could follow behind.   
  
The three of you headed out towards the outside as you walked in silence for about a block. You were enjoying the sounds of life going on around you until Dean opened his mouth and tried to make a conversation with Andrea, but in the worst way.   
  
“So, cute kid.” Dean said as you turned your head to give him a look of disbelief. She thanked him and kept quiet after that, crossing the street. “Kids are the best,huh?” He said, continuing to try and relate towards the single mom. Sam and you smiled at his horrible attempts to make Andrea talk to him more. But she wasn’t having it.   
  
You saw the motel come into view. It looked small, but cozy from the outside. “There it is. Like I said, two blocks.” She said while stopping on the sidewalk, Sam thanked her as she turned around to look at Dean. “Must be hard with your sense of direction, “ She commented as Dean smiled at her, but it wasn’t going in the way he wanted it. “Never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line.” You grinned at what came out her mouth next, she darted off as Dean’s face dropped. “Enjoy your stay.” She said before running off towards her own destination and vanishing from your sight.   
  
“'Kids are the best’?” Sam asked, a smirk spreading across his lips. “You don’t even like kids.”   
  
Dean turned around and looked at the two of you. “I love kids.” He lied straight through his teeth.   
  
“Name three children that you even know.” You said, watching as he stood there for a while, thinking of any names he could say. You laughed and rolled your eyes, lighting pushing Sam so both of you could check into the motel.   
  
“I’m thinking!” Dean argued, following behind the two of you.   
  
“Don’t stress yourself, we know it’s not your strong point.” You teased as he only rolled his eyes and ignored your comment.   


* * *

After checking into two rooms, one for you and the other for Sam and Dean, you decided to get settled and unpack your belongings. The room was decent from what you expected from a motel. You got your belongings settled the way you found comforting. Sighing to yourself, you wondered what else you could do to pass the time. You weren’t much in the mood to do research or wandering away in case the boys needed you for something.   
  
You decided to check up on the boys, you walked out of your room and down the hall until you were standing in front of their door. You lightly knocked a few times. it took a few moments until you saw the door open a crack, Dean’s eyes landing on you. “What do you want?” He asked with slight annoyance.   
  
“Wow, I’m hurt.” You joked while pushing the door open just enough to slide yourself through. He muttered something sarcastic of letting yourself in. You ignored it as you saw that Sam was sitting at the desk with his laptop open, doing some research on the lake. You took a seat on the bed as Dean walked back over towards his bag and pulled out some articles of clothing.   
  
“So there was three drowning victims this year.”Sam explained, his eyes skimming something.   
  
“And more before that?” Dean asked, throwing a shirt towards a chair.   
  
“Yeah, six more, spread out over the past thirty-five years.” Sam explained, clicking towards another article. “Those bodies were never recovered, either. If there’s something out there, it’s picking up its pace.”   
  
Dean threw a shirt towards the bed you were sitting on, ignoring your presence. “So we got a lake monster on a binge.” He theorized as he saw you throw the shirt back at him, but missing by a bit. He caught it before it could hit the ground. “You throw like a girl.” He said as you frowned and rolled your eyes.   
  
“This whole lake monster theory—it just bugs me.” Sam interrupted the two of you. Dean asked asked why as he took a few steps and stood behind his brother. You joined, getting up from the bed and headed over towards the laptop, hovering over his shoulder to look at the screen. “Loch Ness, Lake Champlain—there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts,” He clicked towards a website dedicated towards Lake Manitoc. “But here, almost nothing. Whatever it is out there, no one’s living to talk about it.”   
  
Sam clicked on another link of all the victims that vanished from the lake, he scrolled through it. Your eyes scanned it, stopping on one that sounded familiar. Your finger pointed at the screen. “Wait, Bar, Christopher Bar—Where have I heard that name before?” You asked, trying to rack your brain.   
  
“Christopher Bar, the victim in May.” Sam clicked on the link and began reading a newspaper article that popped up. Your eyes landed on a very familiar face, your heart dropped at what you read. “Christopher Bar was Andrea’s husband, Lucas’ father.” You saw from the corner of your eye Dean standing up straighter as Sam began reading. “Apparently, he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned two hours before the kid got rescued.”   
  
You sighed to yourself as Sam clicked on the picture, enlarging it to show Lucas wrapped in a towel. His eyes were glazed over with sadness and fear. “Maybe we have an eyewitness after all.” You suggested as you ran your fingers through your hair.   
  
“No wonder that kid was so freaked out.” Dean muttered, his eyes never leaving the picture. “Watching one of your parents die.” Your eyes jumped over towards him as you gave him a look, he looked at you for a few seconds, but he never said anything in return. He just continued to unpack and ignored the subject for the rest of the time.   


* * *

The clock struck three o'clock when you headed towards the park, you saw a group of kids running around the playground and parents near them for assistance. You noticed Andrea was sitting on the bench, looking at her son Lucas, who was in the middle of the grass coloring by himself. “Can we join you?” Sam asked,you stopped at his side and smiled at Andrea.   
  
She seemed a little taken back by your sudden appearance, but she smiled. “I’m here with my son.”   
  
“Mind if we say hi?” You asked, gesturing towards Dean, he only smiled. You had come up with a possible plan for Lucas to talk to you. It would take the both of you to, hopefully, make the child feel safe enough to open up and tell you what happened that day.   
  
Dean and you walked up towards Lucas, crouching down so you were at eye level with him. “How’s it going?” Dean asked, but Lucas remained silent, still drawing a picture. His eyes jumped towards the little green army men and chuckled to himself. “Oh, I used to love these things.” He said. Both of you grabbed one of the little soldiers and made gun noises as Dean pretended to drop his.   
  
You looked to see that Lucas didn’t even budge. “So crayons is more of you thing?” You asked, putting the toy back and observed at what he was doing. You noticed a stack of drawings that he did. The top one was a black circle and the one that you flipped to next was a bike. Your eyebrows furrowed at the transition, maybe it was nothing.   
  
“You mind if we sit and draw with you for a while?” Dean asked, picking up a crayon. “I’m not so bad myself.” You smiled as you watched him picked up a stack of construction paper and lay it down on his lap. He handed you one as both of you began drawing.   
  
You drew a picture of something on the top of your head, “You know, I’m thinking you can hear me. You just don’t want to talk.” You began, eyes jumping up to look at him. “But I know it was something real bad.”   
  
Dean was quiet for a few moments, he looked up from the paper and stared at Lucas. “I think I know how you feel.” He said, continuing to draw himself. “When I was your age, I saw something.” It became quiet between the three of you for a few more seconds. You glanced up to see Dean was staring at the ground, he was thinking. “Anyway…Well, maybe you don’t think anyone will listen to you or, uh…or believe you.” He glanced at Lucas. “I want you to know that we will. You don’t even have to say anything.”   
  
“You could draw us a picture about what you saw that day with your dad on the lake.” You suggested, but Lucas didn’t say anything. “Okay, no problem.” You muttered to yourself. Well, so much for those child psychology classes you took in high school.   
  
Dean put down his crayon and turned towards the little boy. “This is for you.” He said as he showed the picture to Lucas, pointing towards his different people he drew. “This is my family. That’s my dad. That’s my mom. That’s my geek brother. And that’s (Y/N), I couldn’t leave out her,” He pointed towards you. “She’s my friend, but she’s like family. And that’s me.” You smiled and watched as Lucas still didn’t say anything to the both of you. “Alright, so I’m a sucky artist. We’ll see you around, Lucas.”   
  
He put down the paper as the two of you got up and headed back towards Andrea, you looked over your shoulder to see that Lucas had stopped drawing. He picked up Dean’s picture and observed it. Well, it’s a start you could work with.   
  
“Lucas hasn’t said a word,” You heard Andrea explain as she was standing next to Sam, her arms crossed over her chest. “Not even to me—Not since his Dad’s accident.” She turned her head to glance at the two of you.   
  
“Yeah, we heard. Sorry.” Dean said, she nodded and looked at the ground.   
  
“What are the doctors saying?” Sam asked, looking at Andrea.   
  
She shrugged her shoulders. “That it’s a kind of post-traumatic stress.” She explained.   
  
“That can’t be easy for either of you.” Sam sympathized, looking at Lucas than Andrea again.   
  
“We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot.” She looked at three of you, she couldn’t help herself but get a little emotional while she talked about her son. Her eyes won’t leave Lucas. “It’s just…When I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw…kids are strong.”   
  
“You’d be surprised what they can deal with.” You said, looking at her.   
  
She turned to look at the three of you again. “You know, he used to have such life.” She smiled at the memory as she crossed her arms over her chest. “He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth.” She grinned, turning her head to look at her son, but it dropped again. “Now he just sit there, drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish—“ She saw that her son was walking up no, something dangled in his hands. “Hey, sweetie.”   
  
But he ignored her, he handed a picture towards Dean and looked down at the ground. “Thanks, Lucas.” He said while observing the picture. You noticed that it was a house with grass and two little animals outside. Lucas walked away and went back towards his drawings. All four of you looked at one another.   
  
Well, it was a start.

* * *

 

Sitting around the motel room with Dean was more boring than you thought it would be. He sat on his bed, keeping to himself as you sat on Sam’s bed, reading a book you’ve been wanting to start, but haven’t had the time for. You turned the page for the next chapter, but your attention was ripped away towards the bedroom door being opened and shut. Sam had come back and walked up straight towards Dean.   
  
“So, I think it’s safe to say we can rule out Nessie.’ Sam said as he took a seat next to you on the edge of the bed, he looked rather angry at his findings.   
  
“What do you mean?” You asked, marking your book and putting it on the nightstand. You moved a bit closer and listened towards what Sam had found.   
  
“I just drove past the Carlton house.” Sam explained, looking at you and Dean while he told the unexpected news. “There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead.”   
  
Part of you wasn’t shocked at the news, but Dean asked the question that buzzed inside your mind. “He drowned?”   
  
“Yep, in the sink.” Sam said, you looked at him for a few seconds, trying to make sure what he said was true.   
  
“What the hell?” Dean muttered to himself, turning his head to look at the ground, then at his brother. “So this isn’t a creature. We’re dealing with something else.”   
  
“Yeah, but what?” You questioned.   
  
“I don’t know,” Dean said while looking at you and Sam. “A water wrath, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean something that controls waters…”   
  
It was quiet between the three of you for a few moments, trying to think of a possible answer. Suddenly it clicked in your head. “…Or water that comes from the same source.” You snapped your fingers, looking at both of the boys.   
  
“The lake—which would explain why it’s upping the body count.” Sam went on, glancing between the both of you. “The lake is draining. It’ll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it’s running out of time.”   
  
“And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone almost anywhere.” Dean said, jumping from the bed and heading over towards the seat, putting his shoes on. “This thing is gonna happen again.”   
  
“This has got something to do with Bill Carlton,” Sam suspected, glancing over at his brother.   
  
“Obviously, it took both his kids.” You stated.   
  
“And I’ve been asking around. Lucas’ dad, Chris—Bill Carlton’s godson.” Sam said, you sighed as you patted the bed, pushing yourself up.   
  
“Let’s go pay ourselves a visit to Mr. Carlton.” You suggested, looking at both of the boys.   


* * *

You had found the man sitting on the docks, it was like he didn’t leave from the last time you saw him. You walked up to him, softly calling his name. His eyes jumped up from the water to look at the three of you as all you headed up towards the older man. The face he was wearing couldn’t be less than full of heartbreak, he had lost his children to something and such a short amount of time. You were hoping that this wouldn’t be to rough for him to be asking a few questions. But if he wanted to know what killed his children, he needed to help.   
  
“We’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.” You stated as he continued to stare at the lake. “We’re from the department—“   
  
“I don’t care who you’re with,” He simply said, his voice sounded like he was on the verge of crying. “I’ve answered enough questions today.”   
  
“Your son said that he saw something in that lake.” Sam tried himself, gesturing towards the lake with his shoulder. “What about you? You ever see anything out there?” But he didn’t say anything, he just kept quiet as you saw his bottom lip slightly quiver. “Mr. Carlton, Sophie’s drowning and Will’s death—we think there might be a connection to you or your family.”   
  
“My children are gone. Its…” Mr. Carlton kept quiet for a few moments, trying to keep himself composed, but it was becoming harder when he spoke about it. “It’s worse than dying.”   
  
You clenched your jaw at the powerful words. Part of you wondered if losing a child was the worst thing than losing a lover, or even a parent. Maybe it was because they made that little human being. They’re expect to protect and care for it from the outside forces that might take it away from them. And when that child is, by any chance, it must feel like they’ve failed at the one job they needed to do their best at.   
  
“Go away…please.” Mr. Carlton muttered, trying his hardest to be polite.   
  
The three of you respected his wishes and simply walked back towards the Impala, As they were near enough towards the car, the boys were reflecting on what happened before stopping at the car.   
  
“What do you think?” Sam asked, heading towards the passenger side.   
  
“I think the poor guy’s been through hell.” Dean admitted, “I also think he’s not telling us something.”   
  
“So, what now?” You questioned, leaning your side against the car. You turned your head to see that Dean was focusing on something for a long moment. “What is it?”   
  
“Huh,” Dean muttered to himself, his eyes fixated on the house. “Maybe Bill’s not the only one who knows something.” He pulled out the picture Lucas drew for him, unfolding it as he placed it up towards the house. It was almost a perfect match. All three of you looked at one another with suspicion.   


* * *

“I’m sorry. But I just don’t think it’s a good idea.” Andrea said, standing with her hands on her hips. She let the three of you in her home after trying to explain the situation the best you could, without spilling what really was happening, afraid she might freak out.   
  
“I just need to talk to him, just for a few minutes.” Dean tried to explain, his fingers laced together.   
  
“He won’t say anything. What’s good it gonna do?” Andrea questioned, looking at Dean with suspicion.   
  
You sighed, “Andrea, we think more people might get hurt.” You tried to explain, her eyes jumped towards you with confusion. “We think something’s happening out there.”   
  
She shook her head. “My husband, the others—they just drowned, that’s all.”   
  
You shrugged your shoulders, “If that’s what you really believe, then we’ll go,” Your tone became a bit sharper when you spoke again, your nerves were becoming the best of you. “But if you think there’s even a possibility that something else could be going on, please let Dean talk to your son.”   
  
With a sigh, she tapped her foot against the wooden floors, making a decision. You watched as she gestured for the three of you to follow behind as she lead you down a hall where you saw Lucas. He was sitting on the floor with his army men and colored construction paper spread all around him, drawing like he was the last time you saw him.   
  
Dean slowly walked into the room as the rest of you stood in the hallway, he crouched down to the boy and smiled. “Hey Lucas, you remember me?” He asked, but Lucas just remained quiet and kept drawing, not even bothering to look up at him. Dean peaked at the pile of drawings, he noticed that they were just pictures of bikes, almost looking identical to one another. “You know, I, uh…” He dropped down and crossed his legs so he was now sitting on the ground with Lucas. “I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is I need your help again.”   
  
You watched as Dean pulled out the picture from his jacket and unfolded it, he set it down on the ground and looked up at Lucas. “How did you know to draw this?” Dean asked, looking up at the little boy. But Lucas still didn’t respond, he just kept coloring. “Did you know something bad was gonna happen?” Still, he remained silent. “Maybe you could nod yes or no for me.” He tried to work with Lucas, but it wasn’t going well, so he did another approach. The personal touch.   
  
“You’re scared.It’s okay. I understand.” Dean whispered. “See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared too.” Your eyes trailed on Sam, he stopped looking at Lucas and then at his older brother. You knew it was tough for both of them to be opening up old wounds from their past, but it may help Lucas feel safe enough to talk.   
  
“I didn’t feel like talking, just like you, but see, my mom—” He kept quiet for a few seconds, he looked up at something else. “I knew she wanted me to be brave. I think about that everyday.” You swallowed, trying to hide the urge to go over there and hug him. Maybe it was just your over protectiveness, but you couldn’t bare the sight of opening up like this. “And I do my best to be brave.” He looked over at Lucas, “And maybe your Dad wants you to be brave, too.”   
  
And then, Lucas stopped. He dropped his crayon, he looked up and stared at Dean. You turned your head to look at Andrea, you could see the surprise written across her face. Lucas picked up the picture he was working on and handed it over towards Dean. He stared at it for a few moments before looking back at the young boy. “Thanks, Lucas.” He said, smiling at the boy.   
  
He stood back up and headed towards the three of you, thanking Andrea for the time he could speak to Lucas. It seemed that the little boy was more helpful than you realized, you followed behind the brothers as you let yourselves out and headed back to the Impala. Sam sat in the passenger side, observing the picture.   
  
“Andrea said the kid never drew like that until his father died.” Dean explained, glancing at the picture before focusing on the road again.   
  
“There are cases going through traumatic experience that could make certain people more sensitive to premonitions and psychic tendencies.” Sam said, looking over at his brother.   
  
“What if Lucas is tapping into it somehow?” You questioned, pulling your body up so you could squeeze your head in between the boys. Both boys stared at you, Sam gave you a curious look as Dean was agreeing with you with a nod of his head. “It’s only a matter of time until someone else drowns.” You reminded them, “So if you idiots have any other lead, please share with the class.” You muttered while sitting back into your seat.   
  
Sam sighed, throwing his hand up in the air. “All right. We have another house to find.”   
  
“There’s about a thousand yellow two-stories in this county alone.” Dean spoke up, bursting your plan.   
  
But Sam pointed towards a building in the picture, making a new lead. “See this church? I bet there’s less than a thousand of those around here.”   
  
You got back up and looked at his discovered, you smiled. “Oh, college boy think he’s so smart,’ Dean remarked in a sarcastic tone.   
  
You rolled your eyes and looked at Dean with a smirk. “Smells like someone’s jealous because they didn’t think of it faster.” You heard Sam chuckle as you sat back in your seat.   
  
It became quiet for about a minute between the three of you again. Sam spoke up after a while, trying to start another conversation. “You know, um…what you said about Mom—you never told me that before.” Sam said, looking at his brother.   
  
“It’s not a big deal.” Dean tried to brush it off, as usual. He wasn’t the one to open up about his feelings or what happened that night, so it was a change for you and Sam to see him become that vulnerable. But Dean’s sarcastic side shined right through, ruining the moment. “Oh, God, we’re not gonna have to hug or anything, are we?” You and Sam smiled, dropping the conversation and continued your search for the location in the picture.   


* * *

After driving around for a while, you finally found it. The three of you stood at the church building, observing it as you saw Dean pull out the picture and make sure it looked like a match. You turned your head slightly, looking around for the home, it took you a few seconds until you found it right across the street.   
  
Deciding to head over, you knocked on the front door and watched as a old aged woman with short gray hair greeted you. She lead the three of you inside as Dean was the first one to speak up. “Ma'am we’re sorry to disturb you, but does a little boy live here by chance? He might wear a blue baseball cap, has a red bicycle.” Dean described the little boy in the picture, and it seemed that the woman knew what he was talking about.   
  
She looked down at the ground as her face began to show sadness. “No, sir. Not for a very long time.” She shook her head, trying to explain. “Peter’s been gone for thirty-five years.” You glanced at the two of the brothers, Sam looked at you with the same stare. The older woman sighed and turned her attention towards a picture that was presumed to be Peter, her late son. She continuing her story. “The police never—I never had any idea what happened to him.” She turned and looked back at the three of you. “He just disappeared.”   
  
As she continuing talked, you turned your head to see something very familiar, little green army men. You lightly pushed Sam on his shoulder as you nodded your head towards the toys. The boys looked and saw what you found.   
  
“You know, it’s…it’s worse than dying.” She admitted, your head quickly looked back at her. You swallowed and looked down at your feet.   
  
“Did he disappear from the house here—I mean, from this house?” Dean asked, correcting himself.   
  
She looked up at him, “He was supposed to ride his bike,” She took a deep breath as she continued to talk about that day. “Straight home from after school, and he never showed up.”   
  
You watched from the corner of your eyes as Dean walked off, heading over towards a mirror where an old picture was tucked into one of the corners. You saw it was two little boys, hugging and smiling. He took it down and observed it for a few seconds before turning it over and reading the writing on the back.   
  
“Peter Sweeney and Billy Carlton, 1970.” Dean read, looking up at the two of you.   
  
You walked over towards Dean, leaning in, you whispered so he could hear. “We need to pay a little visit to the Carlton house again.” You suggested, Dean nodded his head as he put down the picture. You turned your attention back towards the older woman. “Thank you for your time, Mrs. Sweeney. You’ve been a great help.” She smiled and nodded, letting the three of you exit her home.   
  
All of you headed back towards the Impala, Dean drove off and headed towards the Carlton household. You sat up in your seat and explained what you were slowly piecing together. “Okay, this little boy, Peter Sweeney, vanishes, and this is all connected back towards Bill Carlton somehow.”   
  
“Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something.” Dean commented.   
  
“Bill—the people he loves—they’re all getting punished.” You said, resting your elbows on the front seat.   
  
Dean turned his head to look at you, “What if Bill did something?”   
  
“What if Bill killed him?” Sam interrupted, putting his theory in.   
  
You shrugged your shoulders, thinking it could be a possibility. Dean nodded, “Peter’s spirit would be furious. It’d want revenge. It’s possible.”   
  
The car pulled up towards the home, all you exited and looked around for Mr. Carlton. Sam called his name he wandered around, looking for him. You turned your head towards the lake to see that you found him. He was in a boat, heading straight in the middle of the water. “Hey, check it out.” You said, turning to look at the boys again. All three of you started to think of the same thing. “Goddamn it,” You muttered when it came together of what he was about to do.   
  
All three of you dashed towards the docks, running as fast as you could. You kept calling his name as the boys pleaded for him to turn around, he just looked at you, but never stopping. You watched as in just seconds everything changed—the boat suddenly got flung in the air as Mr. Carlton dropped into the water and sunk into the lake, his body vanished. You waited for a few seconds to see if he would rise back up, but he never did. 

* * *

After witnessing what happened, it didn’t take long for the cops to respond. The most logical thing to do was head towards the police station with Officer Bar. As you headed inside, you saw Andrea and Lucas sitting behind the desk.

Her head shot up and stared at the three of you, “I didn’t expect to see you here,” She said, watching as all of you headed back. She stood up and placed what she was holding on the seat.   
  
“So now you’re on a first name basis.” Officer Bar commented, turning around to look at the three of you. He turned his attention back to his daughter with slight confusion in his voice. “What are you doing here?”   
  
“I brought you dinner.” She said, her hand gesturing towards the bags. You saw that Lucas was staring at the ground, not looking up at anyone. But he seemed different, he looked like he was about to cry at any second.   
  
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I really don’t have the time.” He said, taking off his jacket and placing it somewhere.   
  
Andrea looked at the three of you before turning her attention back towards her father. “I heard about Bill Carlton. Is it true?” Officer Bar immediately looked up her daughter with surprise at her sudden knowledge. “Is something going on with the lake?”   
  
Officer bar glanced over his shoulder at the three of you, he wasn’t pleased at what his daughter was asking. “Right now, we don’t know what the truth is,” You turned your head to see Lucas, he was rocking back and forth in his seat. “But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went home.”   
  
Suddenly Lucas whimpered, bolting out his seat and headed towards Dean. Lucas tugged on his jacket’s sleeve, he leaned over and talked to the little boy. “Lucas, hey, what is it?” He asked, but the little boy kept pulling, as if he wanted Dean to go somewhere with him.   
  
“Lucas, Lucas, it’s okay.” Andrea rushed over towards her son, trying to comfort him. “It’s okay.”   
  
But he just wouldn’t stop, he kept tugging and pulling his hardest. Dean crouched down and started talking to the little boy again. “Lucas, hey, it’s okay. It’s okay.” He placed a hand on his head, trying to calm him down.   
  
Somehow Andrea got him under control, just enough, to lead him away and headed back out to leave the station. But Lucas wasn’t happy, he kept his eyes straight on Dean until he was lead outside and gone from sight.    
You watched as Dean just stood there, watching the door with a mix of sadness and confusion written across his face. You softly placed a hand on his arm, he turned his head to look at you.   
  
“Come on,” You whispered, nodding your head towards the side. He looked more time at the door before following you behind into the office.   
  
You let Sam and Dean to take the seats, you decided to lean against the wall and listen towards what Officer Bar wanted to bring you here to discuss what you saw. It all seemed to be going fine, until he opened his mouth and let out something you weren’t quite expecting.   
  
“Okay, just so I’m clear, you see…something attack Bill’s boat,” Officer Bar was sitting on his desk, his tone was filled with confusion as he repeated what you told him. “Sending Bill, who is a very good swimmer, by the way,” You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms over your chest, waiting to hear what else he was about to say. “Into the drink, and you never see him again?”   
  
“Yeah,” You said, shrugging your shoulders. “That about sums it up.”   
  
Officer Bar scoffed to himself, “And I’m supposed to believe this, even though I’ve already sonar-swept that entire lake and what you’re describing is impossible.” You froze in place when he spoke again after a few seconds. “You’re not really Wildlife Service, are you?” You nervously gulped, straightening your position. “That’s right, I checked. The department’s never heard of you three.”   
  
“Now we can explain that,” Dean tried to make an excuse, but the officer wasn’t in the mood for it.   
  
“Enough, please.” Officer Bar said. “The only reason you’re breathing free air is one of Bill’s neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did.”   
  
You pushed yourself off the wall, taking a step forward between both of the boys. You knew your anger was getting the best of you when you spoke up. “Are you implying something?” You asked, looking at the officer straight in the eye. Before you could get any farther, you felt a hand grab the back of your shirt and tug you backwards. Just a subtle warning before you landed the three of you in jail.   
  
The officer looked at you for a few moments before speaking again. “We have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton’s disappearance,” He looked at the three of you, a threatening glare written across his face. You dug your nails into your palm. “Or we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town into your rear view mirror,” His tone was becoming more harsher as he pointed a finger straight at you. “And don’t ever darken my doorstep again.”   
  
“Door number two sounds good.” Sam answered.   
  
“That’s the one I’d pick.” Officer Bar commented, you rolled your eyes again. Prick.   


* * *

Without much of a choice, the three of you were back on the road. You didn’t want to leave when you were getting so close towards solving this case. But what could you do? There wasn’t a chance in hell you’d pick freedom over rotting in jail. So, you grabbed your belongings and headed towards the backseat of the Impala, letting Dean drive you out of this state and somewhere else.   
  
Rock music played in the background, it was already dark when the car pulled up towards a red light. You turned your head to see that the light flashed from red to green, but Dean’s foot was still on the break.   
  
“Green.” Sam said, turning his head to look at his brother.   
  
“What?” Dean asked.   
  
“Light’s green.” You repeated. It took a few seconds, but the car went into motion. You watched as the car turned right. Your eyebrows furrowed. “Ah, the interstate’s the other way.” You pointed out.   
  
“I know,” Dean said in a matter of fact voice.   
  
You sighed to yourself, rubbing your hands over your face. You really didn’t want to stay the night in jail again. “The job is over,” You said. “Bill murdered Peter Sweeney, and Peter’s spirit got revenge, case closed.” You reminded the oldest Winchester. “The spirit should be at rest.”   
  
“So what if we take off and this thing isn’t done?” Dean asked, looking at you from the rear view mirror. “What if we missed something? What if more people get hurt?”   
  
“But why would you think that?” You questioned with confusion.   
  
Dean shrugged his shoulders, “Because Lucas was really scared.”   
  
“That’s what this is about?” You asked, “Just because Lucas was acting out?”   
  
“I just don’t want to leave town ‘till I know the kid’s okay.” Dean confessed.   
  
You pretended to gasp, pulling yourself up and looking at Sam with shock. “Who are you and what have you done with Sam’s brother?” You teased with a smirk.   
  
He looked over at you and rolled his eyes. “Shut up.” He muttered, paying attention back towards the road. You laughed and sat back in your seat.   
  
Deciding to check up on Lucas, the three of you headed towards the Bar household to see how things were going. It wasn’t too late, you suspected that they were winding down for the night before heading to bed. All three of you stood outside and observed the outside interior.   
  
“Are you sure about this?” Sam asked, looking around at the place. “It’s pretty late, man.”   
  
You ignored Sam’s question as you reached to ring the doorbell, but it seemed that the door was ripped open before you had the chance. You saw Lucas, he was panting as he looked panicked. He didn’t say anything, he bolted off again, all of you followed as you raced upstairs. As you reached the top steps, you knew what he was acting the way he was, there was water coming from the first door on the left.   
  
All of you got towards the top, you grabbed Lucas and wrapped your arms around him to keep him out the way. Dean kicked the door open and raced inside. You saw Andrea was in the bathtub, struggling to keep her head up from the water. You gripped Lucas tighter as Sam bolted for Andrea, trying his hardest to get her out of the spirit’s grips. It felt like forever, a mix of grunts and gasps until it finally ended.   
  
You watched as Sam pulled Andrea out of the water, coughing ran through the air as they dropped towards the floor. You let out a sigh of relief and hugged Lucas, letting him know that everything was going to be okay.   
  
After getting everything calmed down, you and Sam lead Andrea towards her living room. You saw that dawn was approaching through the window as you glanced around the home. Dean was around here somewhere, probably searching the place for clues. You turned your head as Sam tried asking her questions.   
  
“What can you tell me?” He asked.   
  
“No. It doesn’t make any sense.” Andrea muttered, shaking her head as she began to sob. She placed her hands inside her face and began to cry. “I’m going crazy,” She sobbed.   
  
You placed a hand on her back, rubbing it as you tried to calm her down. “Shh, you’re not. I promise.” You whispered. “Tell us what happened—everything.”   
  
She dried her tears, and looked at the ground.”I heard—“ She kept quiet for a few moments, thinking to herself. “I thought I heard…” You nodded for her to continue. “There was this voice.”   
  
“What did it say?” Sam asked.   
  
“It said—it said, ‘come play with me.’” She said, you and Sam looked at one another. Andrea couldn’t help herself but sob again. “What’s happening?”   
  
You let her cry and let out her emotions. You tried your hardest to calm her down as you watch Dean appear from somewhere with a book in his hands. He came up towards the three of you and put it down on the coffee table. He opened it up and pointed towards an old photograph of what looked to be a group of boy scouts.   
  
“Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?” Dean asked, leaning over the table.   
  
“What?” Andrea asked, it took her a few seconds to observe the picture and change her tune. “Uh, no, I mean, except that’s my dad right there.” She said, pointing towards the one picture, then another little boy on the left of another one. “He must have been twelve in these pictures.”   
  
“Chris Bar’s drowning—the connection wasn’t to Bill Carlton.” Dean said, looking at you and Sam. “It must have been the sheriff.”   
  
“Bill and the sheriff—they were both involved with Peter.” Sam said, making the connection.   
  
“But wait, what about Chris?” You questioned.   
  
Andrea wasn’t getting it, “My dad—what are you talking about?” She asked, her tone was becoming sharp as she looked at Sam.   
  
You saw that Dean turned his head, you glanced over to see that Lucas was standing at the window, staring off at something in the distance. “Lucas? Lucas, what is it?”   
  
But he didn’t answer, he just walked over and opened the front door, stepping outside causing everyone to follow behind. He walked a few yards from the house, Andrea calling behind as she followed her son until he stopped just next to the woods, stepping on a bed of moss. He looked up at Dean, as if he found something.   
  
“You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, okay?” Dean instructed, watching as Andrea grabbed her son and headed back inside.   
  
Sam headed back to the car to grab three shovels as Dean stopped off his jacket. The three of you began to dig around in the dirt for a few seconds. It only took about two digs until you heard a thunk noise hit your shovel. You threw it towards the ground as you dropped to your knees. You began to dig with your hands as the boys followed behind until Sam got a hold of something. Dean helped his brother, pulling out what looked to be a red bike that was covered in rust and dirt.   
  
“Peter’s bike,” You said, looking at both of the boys as they dropped it.   
  
“Who are you?” You turned your head to see it was Officer Bar, holding a gun towards the three of you.   
  
You nervously swallowed as you slowly put your hands up, trying your hardest to stay calm. Of course, how were you going to react when someone was holding a deadly weapon towards you. And in the matter of seconds and just a pull of trigger, you could be dead. You shook the thoughts out of your head.   
  
“Put the gun down, Jake.” Sam said as he kept his eyes straight on the barrel of the gun.   
  
“How did you know it was there?” He questioned, shaking in anger as he looked down at the bike, then back at the three of you.   
  
“What happened—you and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and buried the bike?” You asked, clenching your jaw when you saw the gun slowly started to point at you. You swallowed what fear you had and spoke up again. “You can’t bury the truth, Jake. Nothing ever stays hidden forever.”   
  
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” Officer Bar lied.   
  
“You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago.” Dean reminded him. “And now you got one seriously pissed-spirit.”   
  
Suddenly you saw Andrea come running out of nowhere, she stopped just a foot away from her father as she looked at everyone with shock and confusion.   
  
“It’s gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love.” You explained to him, in the most calm tone you muster up. “It’s gonna drown them, and it’s gonna drag their bodies God knows where so you can feel the same pain Peter’s mom felt. And then after that, it’s gonna take you, and it’s not gonna stop until it does.”   
  
“How do you know that?” Officer Bar questioned, giving you a look of confusion.   
  
“Because I’m psychic, dumb ass” You spat out. You sighed, reminding yourself that he had a gun pointed at you. “Because that’s exactly what it did to Bill Carlton.”   
  
Officer Bar scoffed, “Listen to yourselves. All three of you. You’re insane.”   
  
“I really don’t give a rat’s ass what you think of us,” You shrugged your shoulders as you continued talking. “But if we’re gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust.” You were kind of proud of yourself for remembering how to get rid of a spirit.   
  
But then it struck you, as you suddenly looked at the officer with anger. “Tell me you buried Peter’s body. Tell me you didn’t just let him go in the lake.”   
  
Andrea spoke up, looking at her father for clarification of what she was hearing. “Dad, is any of this true?”   
  
“No. Don’t listen to them. They’re liars. And they’re dangerous.” Officer Bar lied, again, as he looked at his daughter with an innocent face before looking back at the three of you.   
  
“Something tried to drown me. Chris died in that lake.” Andrea spoke up, anger rising in her voice. “Dad, look at me.” He slowly turned his head, frantically looking around before making eye contact with her. “Tell me you—you didn’t kill anyone.” But he didn’t say anything, he looked down at the ground and tried to pick a spot to focus his attention on. His body language was enough for her answer. “Oh. my God.”   
  
“Billy and I were at the lake.” Officer Bar began explaining. “Peter was the smallest one. We always bullied him, but this time…it got rough.” You watched as he looked into his daughter’s eye for a moment, but dropping back towards the ground as he continued. “We were holding his head under the water. We didn’t mean to, but we held him under too long, and he drowned.”   
  
Andrea looked horrified at what she was hearing, she tried to look away as her father told the rest of the story. “We let the body go, and it sank.”   
  
You sighed to yourself, looking away as your mind tried to soak up the information. Thinking of a little boy’s body just floating down to the river, being unforgotten after so many years, it made your heart break. His mother had no idea what happened to him for all of those thirty-five, gut wrenching years. She was right, it felt like dying, the pain of not knowing where the one she loved ended up. You just hoped you could tell her the truth and give her some peace.   
  
“Oh, Andrea.” Officer Bar sighed, trying his hardest to stay composed. “We were kids. We were so scared. It was a mistake, but, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost—“ You saw that she looked up at her father, disgust written across her face. “It’s not rational.”   
  
“All right, listen to me, all of you.” Dean began, “We need to get you away from this lake as far as we can right now.”   
  
You heard Andrea gasp as you quickly turned your head around, you saw that Lucas was bent down on the docks, trying his hardest to reach the water. You didn’t even knew what happened next, all you knew was that your legs just began running as fast as they could. You pumped your arms, trying your hardest to be quick enough to reach the docks and get Lucas to safety.   
  
Everyone followed behind, trying their hardest to navigate through the woods as run quickly as possible. You ran until it felt like you were going to collapse, but you kept yourself motivated and tried your hardest to increase your speed.   
  
In just the matter of seconds, the trees opened up as you reached the edge of the water. Without thinking, you dove straight into the lake, praying your mother’s swimming lessons stuck to you. You heard the sound of two other bodies joining you, but you ignored it. You pumped your arms and legs in the water, trying your hardest to navigate through the murky water.   
  
It felt like you were under there forever, your lungs burned from the lack of oxygen as your vision was becoming blurry from the many times you opened your eyes. You kept swimming, ignoring the times that someone was calling your name. You had to do this, you needed to save Lucas’ life before it was too late.   
  
In the distance, you saw something rise from the bottom, Lucas. You tried your hardest to reach him before the spirit did, but by some miracle, you wrapped your arms around his body. You swam towards the surface and gasped for air when you reached the surface. You looked over to see that Lucas was blinking, trying to sunk in as much air as you could. You sighed in relief as you tossed him off towards Dean, he swam towards the surface and made sure he got towards safety.   
  
You looked around and counted five people. Everyone was here—except for the sheriff. He must have gave himself for Lucas. Part of you was saddened, but you had to remind yourself. What was done, is done.   


* * *

All of you headed back towards the motel to get some dry clothes. As the boys tossed their bags into the backseat, you saw that Dean was looking rather down from what had gone down earlier. You sighed, trying your hardest to think of something to get him out of this mood.   
  
“Look, we’re not gonna save everybody.” Sam confronted his brother.   
  
Dean sighed, “I know.”   
  
You heard someone cal your names, you turned around to see it was Andrea and Lucas. You smiled as they approach the three of you. All you walked up towards them as Dean greeted them with a hello.   
  
“We’re glad we caught you.” Andrea said, you looked down to see Lucas was holding a plate of food. “We just, um, we made you lunch for the road. Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself.”   
  
“Can I give it to them now?” You heard Lucas speak up for the first time, you couldn’t help yourself but grin. He looked so much more happier these days.   
  
“Of course,” Andrea said as she leaned down and kissed his forehead.   
  
Dean leaned down and helped the little boy. “Come on, Lucas. Let’s load this into the car.” You watched as the two of them walked off towards the Impala, you smiled at how cute the two of them were.   
  
It was quiet between the three of you for a few moments, until Sam spoke up. “How are you holding up?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.   
  
She sighed, shrugging her shoulders.”It’s just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?”   
  
You looked over your shoulder, watching as Lucas and Dean were doing something. You sighed to yourself and glanced back at her. “Andrea, I’m sorry.” You couldn’t help but apologized for what happened.   
  
“You saved my son.” She told the both of you with a smile. “I can’t ask for more than that.” She let in a breath. “Dad loved me. He loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I just have to hold on to that.”   
  
You smiled at the thought and walked over towards the car where Dean and Lucas were talking. You crossed your arms over your chest as Andrea said thank you one more time. You watched as she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the lips. You couldn’t help yourself but grin at how shocked he looked when she pulled away.   
  
He stood there for a few moments in silence, he rubbed the back of his neck to let his old self shine through. “(Y/N) and Sam, move your asses.” He commanded while walking over towards the driver’s side. “We’re gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road.” You rolled your eyes and looked over at Andrea, you gave her a quick hug and said goodbye to Lucas before heading into the car with Sam.   
  
You waved one more time, hearing the sounds of the engine kick on and the car drive away until it was the open road again. You sighed to yourself as you leaned against the backseat, watching the empty fields pass you by.   
  
On towards your next case, you thought to yourself. Because, as they say, there’s no rest for the wicked.   



	4. Phantom Traveler.

“This is all your fault.” You muttered, crossing your arms over your chest and glared at the two boys that stood a few feet from you.  
  
Everything that could have possibly gone wrong tonight for you, did. You stood outside of the motel room with soaking wet clothes because some idiot ran over a puddle, and of course, you were standing in target range. A duffel bag full of once clean, but now wet clothes that smelled like stale coffee sat on the ground, next to your feet. Sam, somehow, managed to spill all the coffee that he picked up from the gas station to keep all of you awake for the drive to a new town. Needless to say, all of you stayed up without the caffeine—maybe, it was because you kept yelling at the boys for being irresponsible.  
  
“We’re sorry,” Dean apologized for the thousandth time, pulling out the motel key and heading towards the room. All though his words didn’t match his tone, he sounded angry and exhausted.  
  
Everyone had been off these past few days; you weren’t sleeping well because Dean kept playing his rock music loud in order to keep himself focused on the road. Sam was a bit on edge because he was having the nightmares about Jess again. You forced the knowledge out of him when his brother was busy doing something. And Dean was angry because everyone else was.  
  
It was around eleven at night when all of you pulled up towards a local motel. The goal was to get some sleep and look for a case in the morning. You were looking forward to some alone time, away from the loud music and the bantering between brothers about the smallest things.  
  
But when Dean and Sam came back from the front desk, you were given the news that there was only one room available for the night, a two bed. Good for the boys, but not you, since there was no couch for you to crash on. This meant you had two options: you either were going to sleep in the backseat of the Impala, or you could bare the pain of having to share a bed with one of the boys.  
  
Deciding that you’ve seen enough of the backseat of the car, you swallowed your pride and made one of the boys share their bed. They groaned and protested, trying to change your mind and take another route. But you had your mind settled on the idea, even though you didn’t like it yourself.  
  
“How are we gonna do this, anyway?” Sam asked, stepping inside the room and flipping on a switch, letting light fill the room.  
  
Dean and you followed behind, heading into the motel room and shutting the door behind you. The room was a decent size for the three of you, without feeling like you were on top of one another. The beds were about a little bit smaller than a queen. It would be a bit of a tight squeeze, but you’ll have to manage for the night.  
  
“Flip a coin, dude. I call heads.” Dean suggested, digging his hand inside his pocket to pull out a quarter. When Dean flipped the coin in the air, both brothers watched as it flipped several times in the air, before falling down and landing in the palm of Dean’s hand. He turned it around and rested it on the top of his hand, he took a peak. “Great.” He muttered out, rolling his eyes as Sam grinned to himself.  
  
“And here I thought the night couldn’t get any worse.” You said, throwing your bag on the bed that was closest to the door. “Now I have to share a bed with him and I still have no clean clothes to wear to bed.”  
  
“Come on, it’ll be like when we were kids.” Dean tried to lighten up the mood, he was now standing next to you as he dropped his duffel bag on the bed. He unzipped it and began rummaging through the clothes. You watched as he pulled out a wrinkled button up shirt and threw it at you. “And here, it’s clean. I guess it’ll do for tonight.”  
  
You picked up the shirt and quietly sighed, mumbling a thank you. You grabbed the clothing and your small bag full of products, heading for the bathroom. “I call the shower first.” You stated, walking into the small bathroom and putting your belongings on the small counter.  
  
“Just don’t use up all the hot water.” Dean shouted, you rolled your eyes and slammed the door shut.  
  
You stripped off your dirty clothes, throwing them into a pile on the floor and headed for the shower. You turned it on towards the highest settings and stepped in, letting the warm water ease your tense muscles. You spent a good amount of time getting yourself clean, allowing yourself to soak up the smells of your favorite shampoo and body wash. You always felt better after pampering yourself with a shower, you just hoped that you could sleep for a little while.  
  
Between the stress of keeping the thought that John was out there somewhere. Sam’s nightmares about his late girlfriend. And your own nightmares that had been happening more frequently. They weren’t just about your mother and that night. They mostly were about being on a hunt, somehow you managed to get separated from the boys and the monster you were hunting found you. And well, killed you.  
  
You didn’t know how much more you could take before going mentally insane. You were just a normal girl for sixteen years, and even after that, you still haven’t had the training like the boys have. You tried to hide your emotions and pretend that you were fine, carrying on through each town you drove to with the thought that John was in one of them. And he was, but you weren’t quick enough to find him.  
  
Of course, the other part of you loved being on the road with the boys. Helping people the way they do, it made you feel good about yourself. There wasn’t four walls of that damn house keeping you from knowing that you might changed someone’s life. You could see it in their faces when the realization that the monster haunting them was gone, and they could go back to their normal lives again. You kept telling yourself, if your mother could do this for all these years and somehow manage a normal life afterward, you could too.  
  
“Hey! Are you almost done? You’ve been in there for like…ever.” Dean’s booming voice shouted from behind the door.  
  
You rolled your eyes at his dramatic concept of time. You shut off the water and reached for a towel, wrapping it around your body before stepping out on the small mat to dry off. You put on the clothes provided for you and quickly wrapped the towel around your hair to let it dry.  
  
Knocking and complaints were heard on the other side of the door, Dean was becoming impatient because he wanted the bathroom next. He was such a girl. You grabbed your dirty clothes and other products in your hands, you used your free one and ripped the door open.  
  
“About time,” He muttered underneath his breath. You rolled your eyes again, brushing past him as he complained about you using up the hot water. You tried to think of a response, but your mind kept thinking of the bed that awaited your tired body. You put the bags on the floor and slipped yourself onto the right side of the bed. When your head hit the pillow, you fell into a deep sleep that you’ve been needing.  
  
\+ + +  
  
Morning approached quicker than you thought, you slept through most of the night, waking up for a few moments when Dean tossed and turned in the middle of the night before falling back asleep. You were now awake, lying in bed and enjoying the silence while trying to get yourself awake. You didn’t know the time, but it was well past dawn, seeing the daylight pour through the cracks in the closed blinds.  
  
Dean was sleeping on the left side of the bed, hearing the sounds of his breathing in repeated motion. Sam was somewhere around town, you heard him shuffle around the room this morning before heading out. He was probably grabbing something to eat, at this early, you didn’t know why.  
  
You heard the sounds of someone unlocking and the creaking of the motel door open. You watched as a tall figure enter and slowly stand in front of you behind the glass wall before approaching deeper into the room. Dean thought it was an intruder, his head quickly turning around to see who it was. You saw that it was just Sam, holding three cups in his hands.  
  
“Morning, sunshines.” Sam greeted, standing in front of the bed.  
  
You shuffled around in bed, trying to get the urge to drag your body out of bed. But you just laid there, wrapping the blankets around your body as Dean began to wake up himself. You twisted around until you were on your back and looked at the youngest Winchester with squinted eyes, trying to block out the sunlight.  
  
“What time is it?” You asked, letting a yawn escape your lips.  
  
“It’s about 5:45.” Sam answered, looking out the window.  
  
“In the morning?” Dean groaned, shifting around in bed so he was looking at his brother.  
  
“Did you guys grab any sleep last night?” You asked, finally ripping the blankets off and making yourself get out of bed. You walked up to Sam and grabbed the cup of coffee, letting the heat from the drink warm your body. You sat on the right side of the bed and let the caffeine kick in.  
  
“Yeah, a couple hours.” Sam said, you gave him a surprised look.  
  
Dean rolled his eyes, “Liar—cause I was up at three,” He said said, pulling his body out of bed and sitting on his side. “And you were watching a George Foreman infomercial.”  
  
You gave them a strange look.” What goes on at night?” You muttered, pressing the cup to your lips and taking a sip of the drink.  
  
“Hey, what can I say? It’s riveting TV.” Sam remarked causing you to scoff.  
  
“When’s the last time you got a good night’s sleep?” Dean questioned.  
  
Sam shrugged his shoulders, making light of the situation. “A little while, I guess. It’s not a big deal.” He said, looking over at something before paying attention towards his brother. “I peripatetic your concern.”  
  
“I’m not concerned. It’s your job to keep my ass alive, so I need you sharp. Cause I can’t exactly trust this one just yet.” He said, pointing a finger at you.  
  
You gave him a dirty look before paying attention back at Sam, changing the subject. “Are you still having nightmares about Jess?” You softly asked.  
  
Sam tried to smile, looking around the room to focus his attention somewhere else. But he couldn’t ignore your concerned look. He sighed to himself, walking over towards his bed and sat down. “Yeah,” He admitted. “But it’s not just her. It’s everything.” He handed a cup towards his brother before settling his down on the nightstand.“I just forgot, you know? This job—man, it gets to you.” You bit your bottom lip, trying to focus your attention somewhere else.  
  
“You can’t let it. You can’t bring it home like that.” Dean tried giving his little brother advice, taking a sip of his coffee.  
  
“All this—it never keeps you up at night?” Sam asked, but Dean just casually shook his head.  
  
“Never? You’re never afraid?“ You couldn’t help yourself but ask, giving him a curious look to see what his answer was.  
  
“No, not really.” Dean admitted, but something told you he was lying. Sam laughed at that, he reached over and slipped a hand underneath Dean’s pillow, pulling out what looked to be a rather large hunting knife. Your eyes widened in surprise. “That’s not fear,” He stated, leaning over and taking the knife back. “That is precaution.”  
  
“All right, whatever. I’m too tired to argue.” Sam muttered, looking down at the ground.  
  
As you took another sip of your drink, Dean’s cell phone began ringing. He leaned over and grabbed it, looking down at it with confusion. All three of you wondered who it could be. He flipped it open and answered. You leaned in closer to hear who was on the other line, without being too obvious for him to notice.  
  
“Dean, it’s Jerry Panowski.” The voice on the other line said, it sounded male. “You and your dad helped me out a couple years back.”  
  
He was quiet for a few moments, trying to think, speaking up again after a few moments of silence. “Oh, right, yeah, up in Kittanning, Pennsylvania.” Dean said, the thoughts clicking together. “The Poltergeist thing. It’s not back, is it?” Your face scrunched up in confusion, wondering what he was discussing. You looked at Sam, but he seemed to know as much knowledge about this guy as you did.  
  
“No. No. Thank, God.” Jerry chuckled, before speaking up again. “But it’s something else, and, well, I think it could be a lot worse.”  
  
“What is it?” Dean questioned, his face becoming written with concern.  
  
“Can we talk in person?” Jerry asked, you watched as Dean turned his attention towards his brother.  
  
Dean agreed. He said goodbye towards Jerry before closing his phone and settling it back down on the nightstand. He sighed, running his hands through his hair. “Well, I found ourselves another case.” Dean said, pushing himself off the bed and walking over to grab his bag. “We’ll leave in twenty minutes. All right?”  
  
You and Sam nodded your heads in agreement, you finished your coffee after a few more sips. You got up and threw the cup away before heading over and spending some time trying to find some clean enough clothes to wear. You settled on a top that wasn’t affected and some dirty jeans that didn’t smell too bad. Well, it’ll have to do for now. You only hoped that Jerry wouldn’t notice, first impressions are everything, after all.  
  
\+ + +  
  
“Thanks for making the trip so quick.” Jerry, a balding man wearing a white shirt and black tie, was nothing more than grateful when he saw the three of you. He walked in front of you while the rest of you followed behind. You weren’t exactly sure where you were going. All you saw was airplane parts and people working on them. I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around.” You watched as Jerry looked towards Sam. “Dean and your dad really helped me out.”  
  
“Yeah, he told me. It was a poltergeist?” Sam asked, looking around at the building.  
  
Suddenly a random man that walked by looked at three of you and smiled. “'Poltergeist?’ I loved that movie.” He simply stated. But Jerry wasn’t in the mood.  
  
“Hey, nobody’s talking to you. Keep walking.” Jerry sassed, looking at the man walking by. You couldn’t help yourself but quietly laugh before composing yourself. “Damn right it was a poltergeist—practically tore our house apart.” He said, looking at Sam from over his shoulder. “Tell you something—if it wasn’t for you and your dad, I probably wouldn’t be alive.”  
  
“You know this boy, always making sure to keep people safe.” You said with a smile, looking at Dean. He rolled his eyes and looked the other way, trying not to smile. But you saw it before he could hide it.  
  
Jerry looked at you with confusion, as if he was trying to figure out who you were. “You must be…(Y/N), right? Afraid Dean didn’t talk about you much. John, on the other hand, he said you were quite a help for the past few years.” You couldn’t help yourself but give Dean a smug look when Jerry turned away to focus his attention on Sam. “Your dad said you were off at college. Is that right?”  
  
“Yeah, I was. I’m…taking some time off.” Sam said, trying to come up with a proper response.  
  
“Well, he was real proud of you. I could tell.” Jerry said, turning his head to look at something in the distance. “He talked about you all the time.”  
  
Sam seemed a little bit shocked at what he was hearing. “He did?” He asked while all of you passed an airplane that was being worked on.  
  
“Yeah, you bet he did.” Jerry admitted, before looking over at Dean. “Oh, hey, I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn’t.” You wanted to laugh, there was no surprise. Nobody could if they wanted to. “How’s he doing, anyway?”  
  
Dean shrugged, shoving his hands inside his jacket pockets. “Hes, um, wrapped up in a job right now.” He lied, brushing it off with a small smile.  
  
“Well, we’re missing the old man.” Jerry turned around, walking backwards to look at you and Sam with a smile. “We get Sam and (Y/N). Even trade, huh?” He joked, turning around so he could walk normally again.  
  
All of you laughed at the compliment, but Sam brushed it off. “No, not by a long shot.” Sam said, you gave him a look of playful look of annoyance. He shrugged off your look and paid attention towards what Jerry was saying about the case, finally.  
  
“I got something I want you guys to hear.” Jerry lead you towards his office. All of you took a seat around his desk, watching as he pulled out a disk. “I listened to this. Well, it sounded like it was up your alley.” He put the disk into a player. “Normally I wouldn’t have access to this. It’s the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia flight 2485.It was one of ours.”  
  
All of you listened in on the recording. At first all you could hear was static and voices shouting, it was hard for you to make out what they were saying. But then an alarm went off, as the sounds of the airplane slowly falling was heard. So, it was an airplane crash the three of you were investigating. What was so supernatural about this?  
  
“Took off from here, crashed about two hundred miles south.” Jerry explained. “Now, they’re saying mechanical failure. The cabin depressurized somehow.” Your eyebrows furrowed, Jerry continued with the story. “Over a hundred people on board. Only seven got out alive. The pilot was one.”  
  
Well, that was someone that could explain how the cabin door got open. There was tons of pressure on that thing. How was it possible that it just opened? You haven’t heard many stories about some simple little mechanical error where the door just opened. Maybe the Incredible Hulk was on the flight and decided to have a little fun. You shook the thought of your head, that wasn’t funny.  
  
You listened on what Jerry was talking about, the pilot. “His name is Chuck Lambert. He’s a good friend of mine. Chuck is, uh…” Jerry tried to find the proper response. “Well, he’s pretty broken up about it, like it was his fault.”  
  
“You don’t think it was?” Sam asked.  
  
“No, I don’t.” Jerry said, looking at the youngest Winchester.  
  
You sighed, well this wasn’t going to be easy. “Jerry, we’re gonna need passenger manifests, a list of survivors—“ You began listing off what could help you with the case, but Dean interrupted you.  
  
“Right. And any way we can take a look at the wreckage?” Dean asked, his voice was nonchalant, as if that wasn’t classified information.  
  
“The other stuff is no problem,, but the wreckage—“ Jerry said, looking at the three of you. “Fellas, the NTSB has it locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way I’ve got that kind of clearance.”  
  
Dean nodded his head. “No problem.” He said, as if it wasn’t a big deal, but you knew him. You mentally sighed. He was coming up with a plan to get the three of you into that warehouse. And it wasn’t going to be something easy, that was for sure. 

\+ + +

Leaning against the car with Sam, you tapped your foot against the pavement as you waited for Dean to come out of some shop with the new fake ids. You didn’t exactly know what plan he was going with, but you just hoped that it was good enough to get through security without any suspicion being raised.   
  
And what felt like hours of waiting for the oldest Winchester, he finally came out of the shop and walked up towards the two of you.   
  
“You’ve been in there forever,” Sam complained, through his hands up in the air.   
  
Dean just showed off the three newly made ids, you leaned in closer to take a better look. You sighed at what you saw, this wasn’t exactly what you had in mind. “You can’t rush perfection.” Dean said, you rolled your eyes and plucked the ids out of his hand to take a closer look.   
  
“Homeland Security?” You asked with eyebrows raised with suspicion. “That’s pretty illegal, even for your standards.”   
  
Dean shrugged his shoulders, digging his hands inside his pocket and walking over towards the driver’s side of the car. “Yeah, well, it’s something new, you know?” He said, as it wasn’t a big deal. “People haven’t seen it a thousand times.”   
  
You sighed in annoyance, opening up the front door and heading into the back of the car like everyone else. “All right, so, what do you got?” Dean asked, looking over at his brother.   
  
“Well, there’s definitely E.V.P. On the cockpit voice recorder.” Sam began, pulling out his laptop and bringing up the audio recording that you heard earlier.   
  
You leaned against the front seats, making sure to take a good listen. It was mostly static again for the first few seconds, but a whispered voice spoke up halfway through. “No survivors.” It hissed before disappearing. If you had to be honest, you weren’t expecting that.   
  
“'No survivors’?” Dean repeated in a questionable tone. “What’s that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors.”   
  
“Got me.” Sam said, shrugging his shoulders, paying attention back to his laptop.   
  
“So, what are we thinking? A haunted flight?” You suggested, looking at the brothers with curiosity, wondering what their thoughts on this was.   
  
“There’s a long history of spirits and death omens on planes and ships, like phantom travelers.” Sam explained, glancing over his shoulder to look at you. Nodding your head, you let him continue with his thought. “Or remember flight 401?” He asked, losing you at where he was going next.   
  
Dean nodded his head, jumping right into the conversation. “Right—the one that crashed, the airline salvaged its parts, put it in other airplanes. Then the spirit of the pilot and copilot haunted those flights.”   
  
“So…you’re saving me might have a spirit hooked on towards a machine part in this flight?” You asked, trying to make sense of everything. You knew that spirits could anchor themselves onto an object, even after the corpse was salted and burned. But if this was the case for the reason why this plane crashed, your job might have just gotten a whole lot tougher.   
  
“Maybe we got a similar deal.” Sam said, looking at you with a shrug of his shoulders. Well, that wasn’t something that wasn’t going to make this job any easier.   
  
“Right.” Dean said, putting everyone’s attention on the next task that needed to be done. “So, survivors—which one do you guys want to talk to first?” He pulled out a sheet of people that Jerry gave you right before leaving. He looked over the list of passengers.   
  
You pulled your body up and leaned over the seat, pointing at the name, but it required you to hover over Dean’s shoulder, and you knew how much he hated that. “Third one on the list—Max Jaffey.”   
  
“Why him?” Dean asked, turning his head, causing him to be inches from your face. He gave you a glare of annoyance causing you to back away and sink into your seat.   
  
“For one, he’s from around here.” You stated. “And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did.”   
  
“What makes you say that?” He questioned, looking at you from over his shoulder.   
  
“Well, I spoke to his mother, and told me where to find him.” You said, you let out a sigh. “And you’re never gonna guess where that is.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
Riverfront Psychiatric Hospital was the next stop. The three of you greeted Max Jaffey outside, you noticed that he was quite injured from his accident, having to use a cane to get around. As you walked around the hospital grounds, he was a bit surprised to have another visit from the Homeland Security, even though your ids were fake. He seemed to believe them, because he was talking to you as if you were.   
  
“I don’t understand. I already with Homeland Security.” Max said, walking in between the boys as you followed behind. You listened and watched where this conversation was heading. Normally you would jump right into this, but you didn’t want say the wrong thing and blow your cover.   
  
“Right. Some new information has come up.” Dean explained, walking in sync with Max. “So if you could just answer a couple questions for us, that would be great.”   
  
“Just before the plane went down, did you notice anything unusual?” Sam asked, you watched as Max was limping now. He was probably getting tired from walking.   
  
“Strange lights, weird noises, maybe…voices.” Dean asked, listing off possible things that could be linked towards a spirit being present on the plane. But Max looked at him like he had grown a second head.   
  
“No, nothing.” He said, looking back at the ground to see where he was walking.   
  
All you headed over towards a nearby table and took a seat, you sat across from Max. You decided to jump into the conversation, after all. “Mr. Joffrey—” You began, but Max corrected you. “Jaffey.” He said, you nodded your head, apologizing. “Jaffey. You checked yourself in here, right? Can I ask why?”   
  
Max scoffed and looked at you, a smile of annoyance spread across his face. “I was a little stressed. I survived a plane crash.” He stated.   
  
You licked your lips, nodding your head again. “Yes, and that’s what terrified you? That’s what made you scared?” You pressed, trying to sound nice as you could. But there was something more he wasn’t telling you.   
  
“I-I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Max said, shaking his head as he stuttered out his sentence.   
  
You smiled, leaning your body against the table so you could look at him a bit closer. “I think you saw something up there. We need to know what.” You said, quickly glancing at the boys from the corner of your eye.   
  
“No.” Max snapped, shaking his head again. “No. I was delusional—seeing things.”   
  
You looked at the boys and sighed. “He was seeing things.” You muttered, looking at the boys with defeat. You sighed and leaned back in your seat, letting Sam take over. He always had the touch that made everyone open up towards him.   
  
“It’s okay.” Sam began, he leaned his elbows against the table and looked at Max. “Then just tell us what you thought you saw, please.”   
  
And it worked. Max sat quiet in his seat for a few moments, looking around to find the courage to speak up. He started, but stopped, keeping quiet until he finally spoke up. “There was this…this…man.” He started. “And, uh, he had these eyes…” His nose scrunched up at the memory. “These, uh…black eyes.”   
  
You looked at the boys, wondering if this was a spirit you were dealing with. Or something else. Max continued, you jumped your attention back on him. “And I saw him—I thought I saw him…” But he became quiet after that.   
  
“What did you see?” You asked, trying your hardest not to sound eager. You just smiled and let him continue.   
  
Max sighed, speaking up again. “He opened up the emergency exit.” He looked at Dean for clarification that he was wrong, but the oldest Winchester was taken back by the news. “But that’s impossible, right? I mean, I looked it up. There’s about two tons of pressure on that door.”   
  
“This man—did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly? It would look something like a mirage.” Sam tried to come up with a simple explanation.   
  
But Max just laughed off the idea, looking at Sam with confusion. “What are you, nuts?” Sam blinked a few times, a bit taken back by Max’s response. “He was a passenger. He was sitting right in front of me.” You looked at both of the boys with a shrug, knowing this interview was over with. But another one had just begun.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“Here we are—George Phelps, seat 20C.” Sam said, looking down at the sheet of paper.   
  
You glanced out of the window, observing the two story house that was just beyond the stretch of concrete sidewalk that you were parked next to. “Man, I don’t care how strong you are.” Dean said, all of you stepped out of the car as he still rambled on. He leaned himself against the room of the car. “Even worked up on PCP or something, no way can you open up an emergency door during a flight.”   
  
“Not if you’re human.” Sam thought, his back turned as he observed the house before turning back to look at Dean. “Maybe this guy George was something else—some kind of creature, maybe, in human form.”   
  
“Does that look like a creature’s lair to you?” You questioned, turning your attention towards the two story house. It was quite peaceful looking, and totally normal. Sam turned around and looked at it. He sighed and gave you a look. You shrugged your shoulders, giving him an innocent look before walking towards the house, the boys following behind.   
  
Mrs. Phelps answered the door after a few seconds of waiting. After explaining who you were and flashing the fake ids at her, she lead you inside into her home. She sat on her couch, Sam and Dean were sitting in two wooden chairs as you took a spot on the loveseat, sitting across from Dean. You watched as Sam leaned over towards the coffee table and picked up a picture of who you presumed to be was George.   
  
“This is your late husband?” Sam asked, looking up at Mrs. Phelps.   
  
She nodded her head. “Yes, that was my George.”   
  
“And you said he was a…dentist?” Dean said, noticing that he was trying to keep a straight face.   
  
“He was headed to a convention in Denver.” She explained, Dean looked over at his brother. You silently prayed, hoping that boy to keep himself together. “Do you know that he was petrified to fly?” She made a face as if she was about to cry, but she composed herself. “For him to go like that…”   
  
“How long were you married?” You asked, trying to change the subject to a lighter one.   
  
She smiled to herself, looking at you. “Thirteen years.”   
  
“In all that time, did you ever notice anything…strange about him, anything out the ordinary?” You questioned, watching as her eyes jumped around the three of you until she settled on Dean.   
  
“Well…uh, he had acid reflux, if that’s what you mean.” She admitted, you tried to smile as you turned your attention towards the brothers. All you were sharing the same look of confusion.   
  
After dismissing yourself from the home, you walked behind the brothers down the porch as you heard the door being shut behind you. That’s when the boys reflected on what they took away from what they just heard.   
  
“It goes without saying. It just doesn’t make any sense.” Sam said, throwing his hands up in the air when all of you stepped on the sidewalk and headed towards the car.   
  
“A middle aged dentist with an ulcer. It’s not exactly evil personified.” Dean muttered, looking over at the house once more. “What we need to do is get inside that NTSB warehouse check out that wreckage.”   
  
You sighed at his plan, knowing it wasn’t exactly what you wanted to do. But there wasn’t much else of a choice you could do if you wanted to get this case solved. “Okay,” You said. “If we’re gonna go that route, we’d better look the part.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
Looking at your reflection in the passenger side window, you looked like you just stepped out of some science fiction show. You wore a black pencil skirt, tucked neatly inside was a white blouse that was paired with a black blazer. Your least favorite part was the tie that you were forced to wear, you kept tugging at the foreign object that was wrapped around your throat. The fabric felt like someone was strangling you each time you tried to straighten back to position. But, if you were going to fool the security there, every little detail needed to be perfect.   
  
You sighed to yourself, leaning your backside against the car as you waited for the boys to get out from the shop. A smile spread across your lips when you saw them a minute later. They looked so adorable in their cheap suits.   
  
“Man, I look like one of the Blues Brothers.” Dean complained, looking down at his outfit.   
  
“Not really.” You said, walking up towards him so you could make him look a little neater. You straightened out his tie and fluffed out his coat. “You look more like a seventh-grader at his first dance.” You joked, slapping a hand against his chest before backing away with a grin.   
  
He looked down at himself again and groaned. “I hate this thing.” He muttered walking towards the car.   
  
“Hey. You want into that warehouse or not?” Sam asked, following behind his brother.   
  
But Dean kept quiet, sulking towards the driver’s side of the car and plopping himself in. You rolled your eyes at how he was acting, getting into the backseat. Seconds later, you felt the car drive into motion as all of you were back on the road again, off towards the warehouse. 

\+ + +

Holding your breath, the fake Homeland Security badge was flashed at the security guard sitting behind the desk at the warehouse. It seemed like forever, watching his eyes examine the id as you tapped your foot against the floor. He looked your way, giving you a suspicious look. Immediately you stopped and flashed a fake smile. He sighed, waving the three of you on towards the crash sight.   
  
Dean gave an arrogant grin, tucking the badge inside his jacket pocket and walking towards the double doors that hid the plane wreckage. You passed a few security guards that weren’t paying much attention, slipping past the door. When your eyes wandered around the place, your mouth gaped open at what you saw.   
  
The room was rather large to begin with, but it was almost full, every inch was covered in busted up parts of the plane they recovered from the crash, making a close replica of the machine. Dean pulled out something from his jacket pocket, your eyebrows furrowed when you saw. It looked to be a Walkman and a pair of earphones. You gave him a look of disbelief.   
  
“What is that?” You asked, pointing towards the device.   
  
“It’s an E.M.F. meter.” He explained, showing it to you and Sam close up. “It reads electromagnetic frequencies.”   
  
You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms over your chest. “Yeah, I know what an E.M.F. Meter is, but why does it look like a busted up Walkman?” You asked, looking down at the piece of junk.   
  
Dean stopped in his tracks, he looked offended at what you just said. You bit your tongue to keep a smile from spreading across your face to keep him from getting anymore mad. “Cause that’s what I made it out of.” He said, lifting up as a smile spread across his face, as if he was a little kid, proud of his toy that he created. “It’s homemade.”   
  
“Yeah, I can see that.” Sam agreed, nodding his head a sarcastic smile spread across his face. Dean looked at his brother for a few moments. It took him a while to realize that none of you were really proud of him. Dean just gave both of you a dirty look, turning around and inspecting the wreckage.   
  
All of you fell into a silence; Dean followed in lead as he checked out the place for any possible readings that seemed out of the ordinary. You were last in the little line, looking around to see if anything was suspicious. But all that you saw was burnt up machine parts and tools that were probably checking around the crisp parts that seemed out of place.   
  
“Check out that handle.” Dean stopped at what you presumed to be the emergency door handle, or what was left of it. You walked up and stood on his right side, leaning over to inspect what he had found. His finger traced over a fine powder, he inspected it more closely, rubbing it between his fingertips. “What is this stuff?”   
  
“One way to find out.” Sam said. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a small knife. He scrapped out a bit of the residue and placed it into a small glass container he found lying around.   
  
Suddenly you heard the sound of what you presumed to be heavy footsteps, too many of them to count of how many that were coming your way. All you knew that something god wasn’t going to happen if you stuck around. You singled for the boys to run before it was too late. All of you scurried out of the warehouse and headed outside, hiding behind a tall metal wall to keep yourselves hidden from any possible security guards. After a few seconds of waiting, Dean ushered for the rest of you to follow behind. You let out a shaky breath, trying to compose yourself as you walked.   
  
A blaring alarm caused you to nearly jump a foot in the air, you weren’t expecting that. All of you began to slowly pick up your pace towards a run, heading for the exit. You kept thinking that you were in the clear, that was until your eyes landed on the metal fence that was blocking you from your escape. You watched as Dean threw up his jacket to block out the barbed wire, both of brothers jumped on top of it as if it wasn’t a big deal. Sam jumping on the other side in the matter of seconds. Dean was sitting on the ledge, getting ready to throw his leg on the other part to jump down, but he saw you just standing there.   
  
“Give me your hand.” He said, resting his right hand on the fence as he leaned over so he could grab you. But you just gave him a look, as if you were a deer in headlights. “Come on (Y/N), give me your hand and I’ll help you up. Just run and jump, I’ll do the rest.”   
  
You took a deep breaths, stepping backwards so you could get a running start. You ran as fast as you could, your legs bending so you could jump. Dean grabbed your wrist, pulling your body up as if you weighed nothing. As he jumped down, you straddled the fence for a few seconds until you got the courage and jumped off, managing to land on your feet.   
  
Dean jumped up again, grabbing his jacket and smiled. “These monkey suits do come in handy.” He commented, then he bolted off without glancing back at you and Sam. Both of you gave each other a glance. Then you were off, running away from the warehouse and never looking back.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Back at the motel, all of you ditched your suits and put on more comfortable clothing for the research that was needed to be done. Pages and drawings you found were pinned on the wall that was behind Sam. He sat at the small table and did online research on his laptop while you and Dean flipped through books. All of you were trying to find anything about phantom travelers and demons. You sat crossed legged on the bed as Dean sat on the other one, using your edge of your bed to rest his belongings.   
  
“So, every religion in every world culture has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right?” Sam broke your concentration, you looked up at him to see what he had found. He leaned back in his seat, continuing to talk. “Christian, Native American, Hindu—you name it.”   
  
“Yeah, but none of them describe anything like this.” Dean speculated.   
  
“That’s not exactly true,” Sam pointed out. “According to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made. One causes earthquakes and the other causes disease.”   
  
“And this one causes plane crashes?” You mused at the thought, eyebrows arching up for added effect.   
  
Dean sighed, getting himself off the bed and began walking around. “We have a demon that’s evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?“ He tried to make up a theory, but it came out more like a question.   
  
Sam shrugged his shoulders, nodding his head. “You know, who knows how many planes it brought down before this one?” Sam thought out loud, turning his attention towards his computer for a few seconds. But when he looked at his brother, he noticed that Dean wasn’t his usual self. “What?”   
  
Dean rubbed the back of his head, trying to find the proper response. “I don’t know, man. This isn’t our normal gig.” You watched as he turned around to look at Sam, shaking his head. “I mean, demons, they don’t want anything—just death and destruction for its own sake. This is big.” He sighed to himself at what came out his mouth next. “I wish Dad was here.”   
  
“Yeah, me too.” Sam agreed in a small tone, paying his attention back towards the laptop.   
  
You closed your book and sighed to yourself. You hated how the boys got like this. So their father wasn’t here, it didn’t mean they could put their thick skulls together and get this case done.   
  
After a few seconds of silence, it was cut when Dean’s cellphone rang. He reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone to answer it. “Hello?” He asked, you and Sam looked at him to see who was calling. “Oh, hey Jerry.” It was quiet in the room for a few seconds, but what Jerry said to Dean wasn’t something pleasant. His face became written with shock as you looked at him with confusion. “Wha—Jerry I’m sorry. What happened?” He was quiet for another minute, he rolled his eyes and spoke up. “I’ll try to ignore the irony in that…nothing. Hang in there, all right? We’ll catch up with you soon.” Dean closed his phone and looked at the both of you with a worried look.   
  
“Another crash?” You couldn’t help but ask.   
  
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Dean instructed, putting his phone back inside his pocket.   
  
“Where?” Sam asked with curiosity. “Nazareth.” Dean answered.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You stood with your arms crossed over your chest, watching as Jerry stood over a microscope and examined the substance that Sam found at the crash sight. It felt like forever, just seeing him adjust the knobs to take a closer look, but all of you had an idea of what it really was.   
  
“Sulfur?” Dean asked, watching as Jerry stood up in his seat. He let out a breath and nodded his head. “All right, that’s great.” He turned around to look at you and Sam. “That’s two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert. This demon sounds like it was after him.”   
  
“With all due respect to Chuck, if that’s the case, that would be the good news.” Sam stated, you turned around and gave him a confused look.   
  
“What’s the bad news?” You asked.   
  
“Chuck’s plane went down exactly forty minutes into flight. And get this—so did flight 2485.” Sam explained.   
  
“Forty minutes? What does that mean?” Jerry questioned, becoming lost at what Sam found.   
  
“It’s biblical numerology. Noah’s ark, it rained for forty days. Basically,” You stated, looking at Jerry with a straight face. “It means death.”   
  
“I went back. And there have been six plane crashes the last decade that all went down exactly forty minutes in.” Sam explained what his found, finding a match towards different flights.   
  
“Any survivors?” Dean asked, but Sam shook his head no.   
  
“Not until now, at least—not until flight 2485, for some reason.” Sam explained. “And the cockpit recorder, remember what the E.V.P. said?”   
  
“No survivors.” Dean muttered, turning his head to the side as he licked his lip.   
  
You looked at Sam, putting the evidence all together inside your mind. Your face dropped into concern at the connection. “It’s going after all the survivors. It’s trying to finish the job.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
After gathering what you knew, all you headed back to the Impala to find out what passengers that could possibly be heading back out. Find the one that’s going to fly next, you might be able to catch the demon that’s been causing all of the crashes. You sat in the backseat as Sam finished up another call with one of the passengers, pretending to be an employee of the airlines asking for a bogus survey.   
  
“Really? Well, thank you for taking our survey, and if you do plan to fly, please don’t forget your friend your friends at United Britannia Airlines. Thanks.” Sam hung up the phone and pulled out the list of passengers, crossing off a few names. “That takes care of Blaine Sanderson and Dennis Holloway. They’re not flying anytime soon.”   
  
“Our only wild card is the flight attendant Amanda Walker.” Dean said, glancing over to look at the sheet before turning his attention back on the road.   
  
“Her sister Karen said her flight leaves Indianapolis at eight o'clock. It’s her first night back on the job.” Sam explained, dropping the paper and pen back into his lap, he looked over at his brother.   
  
“That’s sounds like just our luck.” Dean muttered underneath his breath.   
  
You leaned forward in your seat to look at both of the boys, reminding them of a simple fact that Dean was forgetting. “This is a five hour drive.” You stated. “Even with you behind the wheel.”   
  
Dean rolled his eyes and turned his attention back towards Sam, ignoring your comment. “Call Amanda’s cellphone again, see if we can’t head her off at the pass.”   
  
Sam scratched the back of his head and sighed. “I already left her three voice messages. She must have turned her cell phone off.” He dropped his hand back towards his lap. “God, we’re not gonna make it.”   
  
“We’ll make it.” Dean said, pressing his foot on the gas pedal and let the engine roar to life, letting the scenery became a blur around you.   
  
\+ + +   
  
It felt like forever driving, but all of you managed to get to the airport just in time with a little while to spare. All of you ran inside the terminal booth, dodging people that were roaming around with their roll on luggage. You headed up towards three screens that showed all the flights that would be taking off tonight. Your eyes scanned for the one that Amanda would be taking, your arm shot up and pointed at where you found it.   
  
“Right there. They’re boarding in thirty minutes.” You said, looking at the boys.   
  
“Okay. We still have some cards to play.” Dean looked around at the place. “We need to find a phone.”   
  
He ran off as you and Sam followed behind. It didn’t take long for you to find one, Dean grabbed it as you leaned in close to hear what he was saying on the other line. “Hi, Gate thirteen.” A female voice answered on the other line.   
  
“I’m trying to contact Amanda Walker. She’s a flight attendant on flight, um…” Dean stuttered, looking at both of you for an answer. You rolled your eyes and whispered out the number. “Flight 424.”   
  
On the overhead, you heard her name being announced, it was just a waiting game until she picked up. You tapped your foot against the floor, becoming impatient at how slow this was taking. After a few seconds, you heard a second female voice answer the phone. “This is Amanda Walker.” She spoke up.   
  
“Miss Walker. Hi, this is Dr. James Headfield from St. Francis Memorial Hospital.” Dean began to make up a lie, you and Sam gave him a confused look. What was coming out his mouth wasn’t what you were expecting. “We have a Karen Walker here.” She sounded frantic when she repeated the girl’s name. “Nothing serious—just a minor car accident, but she was injured , so—” But the plan didn’t go through when Amanda spoke up.   
  
“That’s impossible. I just got off the phone with her.” Amanda said, her tone with disbelief at what she was hearing.   
  
Dean was quiet for a few moments. You sighed to yourself and clenched your jaw. “You what?” He asked.   
  
“Five minutes ago.” Amanda explained, her tone become harder as she carried on speaking. “She’s at her house, cramming for a final. Who is this?”   
  
“Uh, well…there must be some mistake.” Dean tried to laugh it off, knowing that he just got busted, turning around as he faced the phone again, trying to ignore your glares.   
  
“And how would you even know I was here?” She went on, Sam and you leaned in closer, trying to listen into the conversation better. “Is this one of Vince’s friends?”   
  
“Guilty as charged.” Dean admitted, smiling as another lied rolled out.   
  
Amanda breathed out a chuckle, her tone becoming annoyed. “Wow. This is unbelievable.” She hissed.   
  
“He’s really sorry.” Dean tried to apologize, throwing his hand up in the air.   
  
Amanda was quiet for a few moments, before speaking up again. “Well, you tell him to mind his own business and stay out of my life, okay?” She asked, her tone was becoming more tired of this shenanigans.   
  
“Yes, but he really needs to see you tonight, so—” Dean tried to speak up, but she cut him off.   
  
“No, I’m sorry. It’s too late.” She admitted.   
  
You ripped the phone out of Dean’s hands after this whole thing was about to fall apart. You ignored his silent protests as you pressed the phone against your ear. “Amanda? This is one of Vince’s…lady friends. Look, from a girl’s perspective, you shouldn’t be like this. You should see the poor guy, he’s a mess.” You lied, pretending as if she was your friend. “Really. It’s quite pathetic.”   
  
Sink and line. Her tone changed quickly, becoming softer. “Really?”   
  
You smiled and nodded, as if she could see you. “Oh, yeah.”   
  
“Look, I’ve got to go.” She said, you frowned at what you heard. “Tell him to call me when I land.”   
  
“No, no. Wait, Amanda.” You repeated her name over the phone, but all you heard was the dial tone. You slammed the phone back on the hook and sighed.   
  
You followed behind the boys as they walked away, Dean cursing underneath his breath as he walked around in slight circles. You sighed and rolled your eyes, thinking of another form of action to stop this. You weren’t going to sit back and watch all those people die.   
  
“All right. It’s time for Plan B. We’re getting on that plane.” You said, looking at Dean and Sam.   
  
But Dean didn’t seem so happy with the idea. “No, just hold on a second.” Dean began, but you cut him off before he had the chance to say anything.   
  
“That plane is leaving with over a hundred passengers on board,” You snapped at him. “And if we’re right,” You looked around and whispered. “That plane is gonna crash.”   
  
“We’re getting on the plane,” Sam stated. “We need to find that demon and exorcise it. We’ll get the tickets and you get whatever you can out of the trunk. Meet us back here in five minutes.”   
  
As Sam turned around, you noticed that Dean looked like a deer in headlights, not moving an inch from where he was supposed to be heading. You gave him a worried look. “Are you okay?” You asked.   
  
Dean was quiet for a few moments, shrugging his shoulders as he looked around the place before making eye contact with you. “No, not really.” He admitted, shaking his head slightly.   
  
“What? What’s wrong?” You leaned in closer, giving him a serious look.   
  
“Well, I kind of have this problem with, uh…” He tried to explain it with hand gestures, you couldn’t help yourself but smile at what he was admitting. Mr. Dean Winchester had a phobia?   
  
“Flying?” You asked, biting back another smile.   
  
He gave you a look; a mix of fear and anger. “It’s never really been an issue until now.”   
  
“You’re joking, right?” You tried to laugh it off. But his face still wouldn’t move, you rolled your eyes.   
  
He stomped his foot like a child. “Do I look like I’m joking?” He hissed. “Why do you think I drive everywhere, (Y/N)?”   
  
You sighed, trying to figure out another way to make this work. “All right. Uh, Sam and I will go.” But he wasn’t so happy with your plan. “We can do this one without you.”   
  
“What are you, nuts? The plane’s gonna crash.” He started, throwing his arm in the air for added effect.   
  
You clenched your jaw, swallowing the urge to shake him. “Okay—we can do this together.” You slowly said. “Or I can leave Sammy here to calm you down, and I’ll do it myself. I’m not seeing a third option here.”   
  
Dean looked around the place again, trying to make up his mind about what to do. It felt like forever until he sighed to himself and rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He hissed underneath his breath. “I’ll go. Only because your plan is stupid.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
After getting your tickets and boarding the plane, three of you settled into your seats. You sat in the middle of the boys, Dean sat closest to the aisle and Sam settled on the window seat. You heard the sound of the engines beginning to get prepared for take off as you turned your head to look at Dean, who was observing a manual of what do if the plane were to crash.   
  
“Just try to relax.” You said in a soft tone, trying to make sure he was comfortable.   
  
“Just try to shut up.” He muttered underneath his breath. You laughed and focus your attention back on something else.   
  
It was a few moments later until you heard the sound of the airplane slowly beginning to take off. The place began to shake as the wheels were retracting. You were used to flying, you’ve done it since you were young. Your mother would take you all around the places. But Dean, he was a mess. He shoved the pamphlet away and buckled up, his hands wrapping around the arm rests.   
  
After a few minutes into the fight, humming filled your ears. You turned your head to see that Dean was leaned back in his seat. You looked at him with a confused face. “You’re humming Metallica?”   
  
“Calms me down.” He explained, you heard Sam scoff and pay attention back towards the window.   
  
You sighed, looking at Dean, who still had his eyes closed and hummed to himself. “Look, I know you’re nervous. I was a mess when I first had to fly.” You tried to make up something that would get him to calm down. “I mean, picture me ten years old and trying my hardest to not pee my pants because I was scared more of crashing than the idea of having explain why my pants were wet.”   
  
You watched as he opened his eyes slightly and looked at you, wondering where you were going with this. You sighed to yourself quietly. “But, guess what? Nothing happened. And the dozen of other times I flew, I’m still here to tell the tale. And so will you. You just need to focus. Okay?”   
  
Dean was quiet for a few moments, he looked down at you and sighed. “All right.” He said, becoming a bit at east. You patted his hand and smiled.   
  
“We got thirty two minutes and counting to track this thing down—or whoever it’s possessing and perform a full-on exorcism.” Sam explained in a rush tone, you rolled your eyes. He wasn’t helping much.   
  
“On a crowded plane. That’s gonna be easy.” Dean muttered in a hissed tone.   
  
“Just take it one step at a time, all right?” You whispered, trying to calm him down again.   
  
Sam spoke up again, trying to get the both of you back on track of where you needed to be. “Now, who is it possessing?” Sam asked, turning his head to look at the both of you.   
  
“It’s usually gonna be somebody with some sort of weakness,” Dean explained. “You know, a chink in the armor that the demon can work through, somebody with an addiction or emotional distress.”   
  
You turned your head to look up at the stewardess walking around the aisle and checking on other passengers. “Well, this is Amanda’s first flight after the crash.” You said, sitting back down in your seat. “If I were her, I’d be pretty messed up.”   
  
Dean nodded, turning his attention towards the blonde stewardess that stopped right next to your row. “Excuse me, are you Amanda?” He asked, she smiled and shook her head. He smiled back. “Oh, my mistake.”   
  
As she walked away, you slightly stood back up in your seat and saw another blonde woman in the back of the plane fixing up a cart. You plopped back down and looked at the brothers once more. “All right, that’s got to be Amanda back there, so I’ll go talk to her and….read her mental state, I guess.”   
  
You were about to get up from your seats, but two hands kept you in place. You saw that both of the brothers were pinning you down. You gave them an annoyed glare. “What if she’s already possessed? We can’t have you go in there.” Of all the times he could be protective, right now wasn’t the best time.   
  
“It’s not my first time with one. And besides, there’s ways to test that.” You leaned over and opened up the duffel bag, pulling out a small container of what someone presumed to be regular water. But if fact, it was holy water.   
  
But Sam ripped the bottle out your hands and tucked it into his jacket. He cleared his throat, composing himself into a normal state. “No. I think we can go more subtle.” He insisted. “If she’s possessed, she’ll flinch at the name of God.”   
  
“Oh, yeah.” You muttered. You got out of your seat and headed over towards the back, but Sam called for you again. You leaned over Dean’s seat. “What?” You asked, giving him a glare.   
  
“Make sure to say it in Latin.” He reminded you, you nodded your head.   
  
As you took a few more steps towards the back, he called you back again. You went back towards the seats and leaned over. “Sam, what!?”You hissed out in anger.   
  
“Uh, in Latin it’s ‘Cristo.'” He reminded you.   
  
You licked the top of your gums and frowned. “Dude, I know! I”m not an idiot!” You wanted to yell, but it came out as a whisper. He was quiet again.   
  
You sighed to yourself and stood back up again, walking towards the back as you mentally prepared yourself. There was a slight turbulence that caused the plane to shake, you quickly caught yourself on two seats before you managed to fall. You let in a deep breath and composed yourself, getting back up and walking towards where you saw Amanda.   
  
You smiled and slowly inched yourself into the little spot, you said hello as she just smiled at you. She didn’t pay much attention. “Can I help you with something?” She asked, placing a cup on a stack with others.   
  
“Oh, no. I’m just a bit of an uneasy flier.” You lied, smiling again. “It makes me feel better to walk around a little bit.”   
  
“It happens to the best of us.” She said, continuing to move things around on her cart.   
  
“Of course, you being a stewardess, I guess flying comes easy for you.” You said, rubbing your hands together as she laughed.   
  
“You’d be surprised.” She muttered underneath her breath.   
  
“Really? You’re a nervous flier?” You asked, pretending to be shocked, titling your head to the side.   
  
“Yeah, maybe—a little bit.” She smiled at you, shrugging her shoulders.   
  
You smiled. “How is that being a stewardess, you’re scared to fly?”   
  
“Kind of a long story.” She admitted, reaching over to grab a stack of paper towels, she looked at you for a few seconds. You nodded your head.   
  
“Right. Sorry for asking.” You apologized giving her a smile. Both of you stood in a silence for a few moments, until you spoke up again. “Have you ever considered other employment?”   
  
“No,” She admitted. “Look,everyone’s afraid of something. I just, uh…I’m not gonna let it hold me back.” That wasn’t a response you would expect out of a demon. You had to admit, this probably was just Amanda, nothing else.   
  
You licked your lips, looking down at your feet, trying to get the courage to speak up again. You sighed, “Cristo.” You muttered underneath your breath, looking at something else.   
  
Amanda stopped what she was doing and looked up at you. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”   
  
You shifted around in your spot, smiling at her as you tried to play innocent. “Cristo?” You asked, seeing if she would freak out. But all she did was look at you with confusion. You sighed, shaking your head. “Nothing. Never mind.” You muttered, heading back towards the aisle.   
  
You snaked your way through the aisle, dodging people’s arms that were flailing out or foots. You finally got back towards the boys and got back into your seat. They looked at you, wondering what happened back there. “All right, well, she’s got to be the most well-adjusted person on the planet.” You admitted, adjusting yourself into a comfortable position.   
  
“You said 'Cisto’? And?” Sam asked, leaning over and looking at you with curiously.   
  
“There’s no demon in her.” You said, turning your head to look at him. “There’s no demon getting in her.”   
  
Sam looked straight ahead and sighed to himself. “So, if it’s on the plane, it can be anyone…anywhere.”   
  
Suddenly the plane began to go into another turbulence as it shook around. You watched as Dean clutched the armrests again. “Come on! That can’t be normal!” He shouted, his face growing with concern.   
  
“It’s just a little turbulence,” You explained in a calm down. “It’s going to be okay.”   
  
He turned his head to look at you, a frown stretching on his lips. “(Y/N), this plane is going to crash, okay? So quit treating me like I’m friggin’ four.” He hissed out.   
  
You rolled your eyes. “Than stop acting like one! You need to calm down.” You reminded him.   
  
“I can’t,” He protested, turning his head to look at you once more.   
  
“Yes, you can. Just take a few deep breaths and relax.” You said, trying to smile.   
  
“Stow the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap. It’s not helping.” He snarled at you, you let out a breath and rolled your eyes at the boy.   
  
“Listen here,” You hissed, leaning over you were close enough to look at him. “If you’re panicked, you’re wide open for demonic possession, so you need to calm yourself down right now.”   
  
Dean became quiet at your tone. You watched as he turned his head to focus on the back of the seat that was in front of him as he exhaled deeply. You narrowed your eyes and shook your head, sitting back in your seat like normal again.   
  
“Now,” Sam spoke up, getting everyone’s attention as he pulled out a book. “I found an exorcism in here that I think is gonna work—the Ritual Romano.”   
  
“What do we have to do?” You asked, looking at him.   
  
“It’s two parts. The first part expels the demon from the victim’s body.” Sam explained. “It makes it manifest, which makes it more powerful.”   
  
“More powerful? How?” Dean asked, giving his brother a worried look.   
  
“Well, it doesn’t need to possess someone anymore. It can wreck havoc on its own.” Sam said, you wanted to hit that boy upside the head. This really wasn’t what you wanted to deal with.   
  
“Oh, and why is that a good thing?” You hissed out, giving him a glare.   
  
Sam looked down at the book and explained.”Well, because the second part sends the Bastard back to hell once and for all.”   
  
“First thing’s first—we got to find it.” You stated.   
  
Dean pulled out his little E.M.F. Meter and decided to check the passengers to see if the demon was possessing any of them. You watched as he started at the end, slowly waving it around at each aisle that he passed. You tapped your foot against the floor as he reached the beginning part of the plane. You signaled for Sam to follow you as you decided to check up on Dean and see what he found.   
  
You approached Dean with his back turned towards you, as you placed a hand on his shoulder, he jumped around as you slightly gasped from his reaction. When he saw it was only the two of you, he sighed in relief. “Don’t do that.” He hissed.   
  
You rolled your eyes. “Did you find anything?”   
  
“No, nothing. How much time we got?” He asked, turning his attention towards Sam.   
  
Sam looked down at his watch, then at you and and Dean. “Fifteen minutes.” He said, looking around at the passengers. “Maybe we missed somebody.”   
  
“Maybe it’s not on the plane.” Dean tried to come up with another idea, but his brother furrowed his eyebrows and gave him a confused look.   
  
“You believe that?” Sam asked, shaking his head at what the oldest Winchester thought.   
  
“Well, I will if you will.” Dean suggested, you rolled your eyes.   
  
You looked up at Dean, who looked became quiet, acted like he just saw a ghost. You gave him a worried look, but he wasn’t paying attention to you or Sam, his gaze was fixed on something. You turned your head to see one of the pilots that stepped out of a small room and smiled at Amanda, heading towards what you presumed to be the cockpit.   
  
“Cristo.” Dean muttered to himself.   
  
You watched as the pilot stopped in his tracks, twitching slightly at the word. His head turned around and looked at the three of you. You nervously gulped when you saw something that wasn’t exactly normal. He glared at you with those black eyes of his. Well, you found your demon.

\+  + + 

Dean bolted down the aisle when he saw the demon, you quickly trailed behind as you knew exactly where he was heading, towards Amanda. “She’s not going to believe us.” You tried to catch up with him, ignoring the looks that passengers were giving you.   
  
“Twelve minutes.” He reminded you of the time that was slowly passing by until there was possible crash. And you knew he really didn’t want to be here when it happened if you weren’t fast enough to do the exorcism on this demon.   
  
You squeezed into the small space behind Dean and Sam. you saw Amanda turn around and spotted you first, she smiled warmly at you. “Flight’s not too bumpy for you, I hope.” She said in a joking tone.   
  
“Actually, that’s kind of what we need to talk to you about.” You began, trying to sound normal as you saw Sam pull the curtain, giving all of you privacy from wandering eyes.   
  
“Um, okay.” She said in slightly confused tone, but she just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. “What can I do for you?”   
  
“This is gonna sound nuts, but we just don’t have time for the whole ‘the truth is out there’ speech right now.” Dean said bluntly, looking around as if he was expecting the pilot to pop out.   
  
Sam stepped into the conversation, leaning over his brother’s shoulder and put out a hand, he smiled slightly. “Look, we know you were on flight 2485.” Sam admitted.   
  
You watched as her face drop into panic as she looked at the three of you. “Who are you guys?”   
  
“We’ve spoken to some of the other survivors.” Sam continued, trying to explain this situation. “We know something brought down the plane. It wasn’t mechanical failure.”   
  
“We need to stop it from happening again.” Dean continued on, but Amanda wasn’t in the mood to hear the shenanigans that was coming out of their mouths.   
  
She shook her head, walking up to push the three of you out here. “I’m sorry. I-I”m very busy.”   
  
Dean managed to stop her before she could sneak away, he put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her straight in the eye. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second.” He tried to calm her down, she was becoming scared at what was happening. “I’m not gonna hurt you, okay?”   
  
“Listen to me.” You said, getting her attention as she turned her head to look at you. “The pilot from flight 2485, Chuck Lambert—he’s dead.”   
  
“What?” She asked, shaking her head at the news you told her. “Chuck is dead?”   
  
You nodded your head. “He died in a plane crash.” You said, trying to get her believe of what was going on. “That’s two plane crashes in two months. That doesn’t strike you as strange?” But she didn’t say anything, she gaped and looked down at the ground, trying to absorb the information you gave her.   
  
Sam scratched the top of his head, trying to think of something else, but then it clicked. He spoke up again. “There was something wrong with 2485. There’s something wrong with this flight, too.”   
  
“Amanda, you have to believe us.” You heard Dean say behind you.   
  
She kept quiet for a few moments, looking around the place as all of you stared at her, waiting for her to say something. She swallowed and spoke up. “On…” She rubbed her forehead as he continued. “On 2485, there was this man. He…had these eyes.”   
  
“Yes, that’s exactly what we’re talking about.” Sam said, smiling at the woman.   
  
“What are you asking me to do?” She asked in a rushed tone, looking at you with suspicion.   
  
She wasn’t gonna like she was about to hear. “Get the copilot. We need you to bring him back here.” You explained, trying to sound normal as possible.   
  
“What does he have to do with anything?” She questioned, you shook your head, trying your hardest not to roll your eyes. You wanted to push out into the hall, you were not in the mood for her suspicion. All of you had precious time before everyone was about about to head first into the ground.   
  
“Don’t have time to explain. We just need to talk to him.” Dean said, trying to sound calm.   
  
“How am I supposed to get the copilot—” She began arguing, but you were ready to settle this.   
  
“Tell him there’s something’s broken back here, whatever will get him out of the cockpit.” Sam tried to explain of what she needed to do, but still she wasn’t budging, making up another excuse.   
  
“Do you know I could lose my job if you—”   
  
“You’re gonna lose a lot more than your stupid job if you don’t help us out!” You hissed, fighting back the urge to shake her. You sucked in a breath, trying to calm yourself down.   
  
She looked at the boys, they just gave her pleading looks. Amanda stood there for a few seconds, in silence. You watched as she took in a death breath, nodding her head that she would help you. She slowly walked into the hall, all you crammed around the curtain to watch. Amanda knocked on the door as a few seconds later, the pilot stepped out. After exchanging a few words, both of them began walking back towards you.   
  
Sam pulled out the holy water from his jacket and Dean found the book from his own. All of you huddled towards the left as Dean peeked out one more time to see they were getting closer. When you saw the pilot step through, Dean threw a punch straight towards the man’s jaw, catching him off guard.   
  
As the pilot fell backwards from the surprise attack, Dean lunged forward and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him up before slamming his body back down on the ground. You winced, knowing that had to hurt. Before the man could scream, Dean placed a piece of tape on his mouth.   
  
“What are you doing? You said you were just going to talk to him.” Amanda said, walking over towards the boys.   
  
“We are going to talk to him.” Dean grunted out, struggling to keep the man’s hands pinned in his grip as Sam squirted holy water on his body. It sizzled and burned through his shirt, leaving three burn wounds.   
  
“Oh, my God. What’s wrong with him?” She asked, her face written with panic at what she was seeing.   
  
“(Y/N), you need to calm her down.” Sam instructed, looking at you. “Take her outside and close the curtain.” He turned his attention towards Amanda. “Don’t let anybody in, okay? Can you do that?”   
  
But she wasn’t paying much attention towards Sam, her gaze was focused on the man that was wreathing around on the floor. You grabbed her arm and shouted her name, you nodded towards the curtain. You pulled her out of the room and closed the curtain behind her. You turned around just in time to see Dean punch the man one more time.   
  
“Hurry up, Sam. I don’t know how much longer I can hold him.” Dean hissed, trying to keep the man down, but he struggled as hard as he could. You bent down in between the boys and tried your hardest to help Dean as much as you could, but this man was strong.   
  
Sam started speaking Latin, beginning the exorcism as he kept spraying holy water on the body. Everything seemed to be going according to plan until the demon overpowered the three of you. The bottle flew out Sam’s hand, and seconds later all of you went toppling down towards the ground. You groaned in pain, your head hitting the floor harder than you expected. You blinked a few times, the room felt like it was spinning around you.   
  
But you worked through the pain, getting back up and pinning him back down again as Dean straddled his body, forcing him to stay still as Sam began to speak again. But that lasted only seconds. The demon easily flicked you and Dean towards the corner of the room. The lights began to flicker rapidly around you. He grabbed Sam by the collar and pulled him in close, a smirk spreading across his lips.   
  
“I know what happened to your little girlfriend!” He taunted, eyes flashing back. “She must have died screaming! Even now, she’s burning!”   
  
Dean lunged at the demon again, punching him straight in the jaw when he wasn’t looking. He managed to pin him back into place. Sam stared at the demon for a few seconds, losing focus. You called out his name, trying to get him back into reality of what was happening. He looked at you with an angered expression, but you gestured towards the demon that stood merely inches away from him.   
  
Sam continued speaking, continuing to finish the exorcism. He dropped the journal towards the floor and helped out Dean. You watched as the demon groaned in pain and tried to keep itself inside its host body. But he couldn’t A smoke of black air slowly rose out of the man’s mouth and into towards an air vent, something that you didn’t want to happen.   
  
“Where did he go?” Sam asked, frantically looking around.   
  
“He’s in the plane. Hurry up. You got to finish this.” You said, gesturing towards the curtain. Somehow the demon managed to fling the book back into the hallway. Sam nodded, getting up to find the book.   
  
Suddenly the plane lost its balance, you felt you body being thrown against the wall as you heard screams from the front of the plane. It was happening, the plane was falling. You clutched the wall as best as you could. You and Dean tried to move towards a safer spot, but with the shaking and turns, he slammed right back into it. You gasped out in pain, not expecting his body to be pinned up against yours.   
  
All you could hear was the sound of the alarm blaring and Dean’s screams into your ears. You could barely try to calm yourself down, your fingers dug into the metal wall as you silently prayed. You kept hoping that Sam found the book in time before all of you were dead in the ground. It felt like forever, hearing all the noises and the shaking of the plane as you clutched on for dear life.   
  
But then it happened. The plane slowly started to shake less, there was this sense of stabilization slowly rocking itself back to normal. It took about a minute, but the plane stopped shaking. You opened your eyes and saw that everything looked back to normal. The lights weren’t flickering and pieces of objects weren’t flying around.   
  
You pushed Dean off your body, letting him stumble a few feet forward. You let out a shaky breath, trying to compose yourself as the best of you could. “Are you alright?” You heard Dean asked, his breathing was heavy he tried to control his breath.   
  
You nodded your head, shaking a little bit. “I’m fine, fatty.” You muttered, rubbing your possibly bruised ribs. Dean rolled his eyes at your behavior.   
  
“Good to know that even after a near life death experience, you can joke.” He sarcastically said. “And besides, this isn’t fat. It’s all muscle.” He mumbled to himself, you just glared at him.   
  
Both of you headed over towards the curtain and peeked outside, your gaze landed on Sam who was holding the journal. You sighed in relief, knowing that at least the rest of your flight could feel safe enough to enjoy without the ticking time clock inside your head. Everyone was safe again.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The plane landed back towards the original airport so the passengers and crew could be taken care of the wounds that they substantiated from the bumpy flight. Police officers questioned the pilot, who had no recollection of what happened while the demon possessed him. Your eyes landed on Amanda, who was also speaking to an officer. She turned her head towards the three of you and smiled, mouthing a thank you. You smiled and nodded, one more life that was safe.   
  
“Let’s get out of here.” Dean said, heading towards the exit.   
  
As the three of you walked, you noticed that Sam was a bit distracted with a thought. He seemed to be that way ever since the exorcism ended. You placed a hand on his arm. “Sam, are you okay?” You asked, stopping him into his tracks. You and Dean gave him worried looks.   
  
Sam stopped and turned around to speak to the two of you. “(Y/N), Dean it—it knew about Jessica.” He said in a whisper, looking around at the people that were walking passed you.   
  
Dean kept quiet, trying to find the proper repose for his brother without him getting him worried. “Sam, these things, they read minds. They lie.” Dean explained, acting as it wasn’t a big deal. “All right? That’s all it was.” Sam nodded, trying to act as if he believed that. But you could see that he was still shaken up. “Come on.’ Dean patted his brother’s shoulder, heading out, but Sam stood in place.   
  
You watched as he just stared into space for a while, clenching his jaw. You quietly sighed, walking up and sneaking your arm around his. You rested your head on your shoulder and pushed him slightly to start walking.   
  
“Don’t worry, Sammy. It’s probably nothing.” You tried to sound reassuring as the both of you headed up to catch up with Dean. “She’s safe. And he’s rotting in Hell for the rest of eternity, thanks to you.” You looked up and smiled at him. He gave you a weak one back, but you knew he was still shaken up about the whole thing.   
  
Both of you caught up with Dean, who was leaning against the car as Jerry stood beside him speaking. You smiled at Jerry as you stood next towards the two boys. He stood there with his hands on his hips, looking at the three of you with a grateful face.   
  
“Nobody knows what you guys did, but I do.” Jerry stated. “A lot of people could have been killed. Your Dad’s gonna be real proud.” He looked at the brothers, as he put out his hand, Sam shook it.   
  
“We’ll see you around, Jerry.” Sam said.   
  
You shook Jerry’s hand and smiled, watching as he said a final goodbye before heading back towards the airport. You turned around and went towards the backseat, but Dean’s voice stopped you as he headed for the driver’s side.   
  
“You know, Jerry, I meant to ask you—how did you get my cellphone number, anyway? I’ve only had it for like, six months.”   
  
Jerry stepped a few feet forward before answering. “Your Dad gave it to me.” He simply said.   
  
The three of you became confused at the answer, the brothers asking questions. “When did you talk to him?” Dean asked, leaning over slightly.   
  
“I didn’t exactly talk to him, but I called his number. His voice message said to give you a call.” Jerry explained, you were a bit taken back by the news. “Thanks again, guys.”   
  
You watched as Jerry finally began walking away as the boys gave one another glances of confusion. All of decided to stay behind a bit longer, Sam and Dean sat on top of the trunk as you stood in front of them, watching as a plane flew above you.   
  
“This doesn’t make sense, man.” Sam said, shoving his hands inside his jacket pocket. “I’ve called Dad’s number like fifty times. It’s been out of service.”   
  
You leaned in closer when you saw Dean type the number into his phone and put it towards his ear. It didn’t even ring, just going straight to voicemail. That was new.   
  
“This is John Winchester. I can’t be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son Dean—785-555-0179. He can help.”   
  
Both brothers kept quiet for a few moments, the looks on their faces couldn’t be read anything more than hurt, possible anger. You wanted to say something, but you couldn’t find the right words. You watched as Sam got up and headed towards the passenger side. Dean closed his phone and shoved it back into his pocket. He walked up towards the driver’s side and slipped himself in, slamming the door behind him.   
  
You tapped your foot against the ground for a few seconds, you knew the boys were hurt from that let down. They had some hope for a few moments thinking they could possibly get a hold of their father, but it turned out to be another let down. You sighed to yourself. If there ever was a day where you saw that man again, you were going to give him hell for what he was putting his sons through.


	5. Bloody Mary.

His body was passed out in the passenger side of the car, his head tilted towards the roof. You watched as his eyelids fluttered slightly as he began mumbling words underneath his breath. Sam was having the nightmare again. It was the same one he kept having ever since that gruesome night, he just couldn’t shake it off after weeks of the same repeated behavior.   
  
You could tell it was starting to take a toll on him, mentally and psychically. Sam was afraid of going back to sleep. He didn’t want to relive that night over and over again. That aching pain of watching someone you love and never having the chance to save them, it was the worst possible feeling that someone like him could go through. But he still had to come to terms that the past couldn’t be changed, all though, you didn’t think it would be anytime soon.   
  
The thought came into your mind, you wondered if that was how their father started. Maybe it was just nightmares, reliving the pain of losing his wife. Than that’s when the obsession grew to track this thing down and well, here you were yeas later. History was repeating itself right in front of your eyes.   
  
Like father, like son.   
  
“Sam, wake up!” Dean shouted, shaking his little brother towards consciousness.   
  
A gasp filled the air, Sam’s eyelids ripped open as he began to control his breathing. He looked around at his surroundings, trying to figure out where he was. He looked at his brother. “I take it I was having a nightmare?” He asked, already knowing the answer.   
  
“Yeah, another one.” Dean said, dropping his hand towards his lap and focusing on the neighborhood that he parked in for the next case all of you would be working on.   
  
“Hey, at least I got some sleep.” Sam tried to make light of the situation.   
  
You couldn’t help yourself to jump into the conversation. You leaned against the front seats and looked at Sam with a concerned face. “Hey, you know, sooner or later, we’re gonna talk about this.” You said, but he just ignored your comment, focusing his attention on something else.   
  
“Are we here?” He asked, turning his head around to look at the police station behind you, the morgue building to be exact.   
  
“Yup. Welcome to Toledo, Ohio.” Dean said, focusing his attention on a pad of papers that he was writing on.   
  
Sam picked up the newspaper full of obituaries, looking at the one that was circled with a black marker. Steven Shoemaker. Steven’s cause of the death was a stroke, but the death seemed a bit suspicious, as his eyes seemed to have exploded and left a bloody mess. “So, what do you think really happened to this guy?” Sam questioned, reading the small biography on the man.   
  
“That’s what we’re gonna find out.” Dean explained, leaning into the backseat and throwing down his belongings next to you before sitting back normally in his seat. “Let’s go.” He instructed, opening up the front door and stepping outside towards the sunny daylight outside.   
  
You and Sam followed behind, walking into the stone building and heading down a long hallway. All of you walked until you came up towards a door on the left that had a black sign above it. Room 144, the morgue.   
  
You stepped inside first, examining the place as you headed deeper into the room to see it was filled with empty office desks until you saw a bald man dressed in scrubs sitting at a desk, reading what looked to be a very large book. Dean smiled at the man as they exchanged proper hellos, he looked up from his book and gave all of you glances.   
  
“Can I help you?” He asked, lifting his head up from the palm of his hand.   
  
You couldn’t help but look at the boys, hoping they could come up with some sort of bogus story on the spot. Sam had a slight panicked look, but Dean was quick to speak. “Yeah, we’re the…med students.” He said, nodding his head. You mentally sighed, not his best choice of cover.   
  
“Sorry?” The man asked, dropping his arm towards the desk.   
  
“Oh, Doctor Fliglavitch didn’t tell you?” Dean asked, pointing towards the desk that you passed earlier. “We talked to him on the phone. We’re from Ohio State. He’s supposed to show us the Shoemaker corpse. It’s for our paper.”   
  
But the man wasn’t buying it, he politely smiled. “Well, I’m sorry, he’s at lunch.” He explained, looking at the three of you with suspicion.   
  
You turned your head to look at Dean, wondering where he was going to say next. He looked at you and Sam, as if you were going to jump in, but you let him figure it out himself. “Well, he said, uh…” He turned to look at the man and smiled. “Oh, well, you know, it doesn’t matter. You don’t mind showing ups the body, do you?”   
  
“Sorry, I can’t.” The man simply said. “Doc will be back in an hour. You can wait for him, if you want.”   
  
“An hour?” Dean pretend to think about it, sucking on his teeth as he looked at you and Sam. “We got to be heading back to Columbus by then.” He turned his head and gave the guy a pleading look. “Look man, this paper’s like half our grade, so if you don’t mind helping us out?”   
  
“Oh, look man. No.” The man said, giving Dean a blank stare.   
  
Dean sarcastically smiled, turning around as you heard him mumble underneath his breath. “I’m gonna hit him in his face, I swear.” You rolled your eyes and subtly smacked him on his arm, he turned his head and gave you a glare. You just shook your head disapprovingly.   
  
Sam stepped in front of his brother, he smiled at the man as he took out his wallet. You watched as he pulled out a hundred dollars in twenties and threw it down on the desk. The man was a bit taken back by Sam’s actions, but he picked it up and grinned at three of you. “Follow me.” He greeted, getting up from his seat and heading towards the morgue.   
  
As Sam stepped towards to follow the man, Dean grabbed him by his jacket sleeve, yanking him backwards and turning him around to face the two of you. “Dude, I earned that money.” Dean argued in a whispered tone. Sam just scoffed.   
  
“Oh, shut up. You won it in a poker game.” You reminded Dean, rolling your eyes as he looked at you like it meant something special to him. You sighed, lightly pushing him so he could walk towards the morgue.   
  
All of you headed back, seeing that the man had pulled out the body and placed a white cotton sheet over it. He had rubber gloves and a white apron, you thought it was a standard procedure from all the fictional crime shows you watched. Well, you guessed that all those hours watching them wasn’t a waste after all.   
  
“Now the newspaper said his daughter found him. She said his eyes were bleeding.” Sam said, looking down at the man and then the body.   
  
“More than that.” He explained, lifting off the sheet so all of you could see the body. “They practically liquified.” You couldn’t help yourself but lean over slightly to examine. You grimaced, it looked like someone had tried to scrape out his eyeballs with a sharp object. But the eyes looked like they burst like a bubble, leaving only a gunk of residue of what you presumed to be the rest of the eyeball.   
  
“Any sign of struggle, maybe somebody did it to him?” Dean asked, turning his attention to focus on the corner after staring at the body for a long period of time with a mix of confusion and disgust.   
  
“Nope. Besides the daughter, he was all alone.” He explained.   
  
“What’s the official cause of death?” You asked, ripping your gaze away from the body.   
  
The corner shrugged. “Doc’s not sure. He’s thinking massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm.” He looked down at the body, cracking a joke. “Something burst up in there, that’s for sure.”   
  
“What do you mean?” Sam asked, giving the corner a curious look.   
  
“Intense cerebral bleeding.” The corner explained, looking at the three of you before glancing down at the body. “This guy had more blood in his skull than anyone I’ve ever seen.”   
  
“But the eyes? What would cause something like that?” Sam wondered, you couldn’t help yourself but stare down at the body again.   
  
“Capillaries can burst. I see a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims.” The corner went on, shrugging his shoulders.   
  
“Yeah, you ever see exploding eyeballs?” Dean asked, looking up up from the body and towards the corner again.   
  
“That’s a first for me.” The corner admitted, smiling as he looked up at the three of you. “But, hey, I’m not the doctor.”   
  
And you’re not being a very good corner, you wanted to say. But you kept your lips shut as you just smiled at him, nodding your head. “Do you think we could take a look at that police report?” You asked. “You know, for our paper?”   
  
The corner looked at you with a sly smirk. “I’m not really supposed to show you that.” He pondered on the thought, his eyes dropping towards Sam. The youngest Winchester rolled his eyes, shoving a hand inside his pocket and pulled out his wallet to pay off the man.   
  
\+ + +   
  
After looking around at the information, the three of you headed back out towards the staircase. You didn’t know what to make out of this case. Something made you wonder if it was just a freak accident, nothing supernatural could be explained. But then, if you didn’t stick around, what if there was something more to it?”   
  
“Might not be one of ours.” Sam pondered on the thought, walking in sync with his brother downstairs. “Might just be some freak medical thing.”   
  
“How many times in Dad’s long and varied career has it actually been a freak medical thing and not some sign of an awful supernatural death?” Dean asked, making everything sound dramatic and dark.   
  
Sam sighed, turning around to take another staircase. “Uh, almost never.” He admitted.   
  
“Exactly.” Dean said, turning to look at his brother with a smirk. You rolled your eyes, squeezing yourself in between the brothers and looked at both of them. “Let’s go talk to the daughter next, I have a feeling she might know more.”

\+ + +

When you arrived at the Shoemaker household, you stepped inside the front door that was wide open. Your eyes gazed around the home to see a handful of people spread around the place, dressed in black clothing and handkerchiefs in their hands to dry their eyes. You were crashing a funeral. Now that was a new one for you. You politely smiled at faces that gave you either curious looks or rude glares. You heard Dean made a comment, just staring at the people dressed in black formal clothing.   
  
You shoved your hands inside your pocket and followed behind through the home until you made your way into the backyard. The three of you approached a group of four girls, you noticed the daughters were sitting next to one another, being consoled by their friends. You wondered if this was a good idea, they just lost their father not too long ago. It would be rude to just intervene like this and start asking shady questions, but Dean sure didn’t have a problem just heading up and going straight into his plan.   
  
“You must be Donna, right?” He politely asked, looking down at the girl with the short hair.   
  
“Yeah.” She answered, looking at him.   
  
“Hi, uh, we’re really sorry.” Sam spoke up. “I’m Sam, this is Dean, and that’s (Y/N). We worked with your dad.”   
  
Donna turned her head to the left to look at her friend, a look of confusion spread across her face when she glanced back at Sam. “You did?” She asked in a slightly shocked tone.   
  
“Yeah, this whole thing.” Dean said, shaking his head. “I mean, a stroke.”   
  
“I don’t think she wants to talk about this right now.” Her friend spoke up, giving Dean a dirty look.   
  
“It’s okay. I’m okay.” Donna mumbled, turning head to look at her friend.   
  
Dean decided to speak up again, bringing the conversation back where it needed to be in order to decide if this case was something you could work on. “Were there any symptoms? Dizziness? Migraines?” Dean asked, but Donna shook her head no.   
  
That’s when her little sister turned around and looked at Donna. “That’s because it wasn’t a stroke.” She admitted, you turned your attention and wondered what she was talking about.   
  
“Lily, don’t say that.” Donna whispered.   
  
“What?” You couldn’t help but ask.   
  
Donna looked at you and politely smiled, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, she’s just upset.”   
  
“It happened because of me.” Lily kept going on, trying to blame herself.   
  
“Sweetie, don’t say that.” Donna whispered, looking down at her sister with a soft expression.   
  
You walked over and bent down so you were at eye level with the youngest Shoemaker. “Lily, why would you say something like that?” You asked.   
  
She looked down at her feet and sighed. “Right before he died, I said it.” She admitted, looking at you.   
  
“You said what?” You questioned, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion.   
  
“Bloody Mary, three times in the bathroom mirror. She took his eyes, that’s what she does.” She explained, you glanced over your shoulder to see the brothers had a grim look spread across their faces. But you weren’t exactly buying this story, and neither was Donna.   
  
“That’s not why Dad died. This isn’t your fault.” Donna cut in, she grabbed her sister’s hand and softly squeezed it.   
  
“I think your sister’s right, Lily.” You said. “There’s no way it could have been Bloody Mary. Your dad didn’t say it, did he?”   
  
She glanced down at the ground before looking at you. “No, I don’t think so.” She said.   
  
You got back up and smiled at the four girls, excusing yourselves to leave them be. The three of you walked back into the house and sneaked upstairs to take a look at the bathroom where Steven Shoemaker died. You followed behind Sam and Dean as they approached a closed door and stopped. Sam slowly opened it, seeing that it lead towards the bathroom, you glanced down at the floor and winced at what you saw. Blood stains were left on the tiled floor. It must have been brutal having to deal with this mess.   
  
“The Bloody Mary legend.” Sam said, eyes glancing around the bathroom. “Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?”   
  
Dean shook his head. “Not that I know of.” He said, stepping inside the room and turning on the light.   
  
You watched as Sam bent down and ran his fingers over the blood stains. “I mean, everywhere else, all over the country, kids have played Bloody Mary.” He said, now standing up and heading inside. “And as far as we know, nobody dies from it.”   
  
“I played the game when I was younger.” You admitted, crossing your arms over your chest as you stepped inside and stood next to the sink. “Nothing happened.”   
  
“Yeah, well, maybe everywhere it’s just a story, but here it’s actually happening here.” Dean said, turning around so he could look at you.   
  
“Do you think this is the place where the legend began?” You asked, watching as Dean stepped towards the mirror and opened it up, taking a peek at the medicine cabinet. “But according to the legend, the person who says—” You noticed the mirror was pointing towards you, you slammed it shut and gave Dean a look before you continued. “The person who says ‘You Know What’ gets it, but here?”   
  
“Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah. Never heard anything like that one before. ” He said, looking at you as you nodded your head. “Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror. And the daughter’s right. The way the legend goes,” Dean’s eyes glanced towards the mirror before looking back at you and Sam. “'You Know Who’ scratches your eyes out.”   
  
“It’s still worth checking into.” Sam thought out loud, looking at the two of you for an answer.   
  
Suddenly you heard footsteps echo off the wooden floors outside in the hall, all you gave each other panicked look as Sam dashed to see who it was, he stopped at the doorway when he saw it was the friend from earlier. She stopped and placed a hand on the wall.   
  
“What are you doing up here?” She asked, looking at the three of you with suspicion.   
  
You looked at the boys, hoping they could make up a story. “We…” Dean looked at his brother for a second before turning his attention on the girl. “We had to go to the bathroom.”   
  
“Who are you?” She pressed, looking at Dean.   
  
“Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna’s Dad.” Dean explained, taking a quick glance at the two of you.   
  
“He was a day trader or something, he worked by himself.” She said, you were caught.   
  
“No, I know, I meant…” Dean tried to make up another lie, stuttering out an excuse, but he wasn’t quick enough.   
  
“And all those weird questions downstairs, what was that?” She asked as a smile spread across her lips when all of you stood quiet. She knew that she had you backed in a corner. “So you tell me what’s going on or I start screaming.”   
  
You rolled you eyes at her empty threat. “All right. All right.” You said, throwing up a hand so Dean couldn’t say something stupid. “We think something happened to Donna’s dad.”   
  
“Yeah, a stroke.” She snapped, you clenched your jaw.   
  
“You might want to open up a medical book sometime, Blondie. That’s not the sign of a typical stroke. We think it might be something else.” You said, eyes glaring at her.   
  
“Like what?” She asked, her eyes jumping towards the bathroom floor before looking back at Sam.   
  
“Honestly, we don’t know yet.” Sam explained.“But we don’t want it to happen again to anyone else. That’s the truth.”   
  
“So if you’re gonna scream, go right ahead.” Dean said, nodding his head at her.   
  
She was quiet for a few moments, rethinking her decisions. “Who are you, cops?” She questioned.   
  
The three of you looked at one another. “Something like that.” You said, shrugging your shoulders.   
  
“Tell you what, here.” Sam dug inside his pocket, pulling out a pen and piece of paper to scribble something down. “If you think of anything, you and your friends notice anything strange, out of the ordinary, just give us a call.”   
  
Sam handed her the piece of paper as he walked by as you and Dean followed. You left her in the hallway to stare at it. You gave one last glance before heading downstairs.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“All right, say Bloody Mary is really haunting this town. There’s gonna be some sort of proof, right?” Dean asked, heading inside the local library as you and Sam followed. “A local woman who died nasty.”   
  
“Yeah, but a legend this widespread, it’s hard.” Sam theorized.”I mean, there’s like fifty different versions of who is actually is. One story says she’s a witch, another say’s she’s a mutilated bride. There’s a lot more.”   
  
“So what are we supposed to be looking for?” Dean asked.   
  
“Well, every version got a few things in common.” You piped up, walking faster so you could stand next to Dean on his left side. “It’s always a woman named Mary and she always dies in front of a mirror.”   
  
“So we’ve got to search local newspapers, public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary that fits the bill.” Sam said, stopping when all of you got into the room where the computers and shelves of different books surrounded you.   
  
“Well, that sounds annoying.” Dean remarked, looking around at the place.   
  
“No, It won’t be so bad, as long as we…” Sam turned his head, he frowned. All the computers that were lined up had a white piece of paper that had OUT OF ORDER written on it. “Ha, I take it back. This will be very annoying.”   
  
“Come on, boys.” You said in a cheerful voice, walking so you stood in front of them. “Let’s grab some files and books and head back to the motel. It’ll be fun.”   
  
Dean just stared at you for a few moments, disbelief spread across his face. “You’re such a nerd.” He muttered underneath his breath, walking towards the local files. “Only you would find book research fun.”   
  
“How many cases have I helped you on?” You taunted, giving him a smirk when he opened his mouth to say something smart, but he was coming up with a blank. He shut his mouth and just glared at you. “Didn’t think so, Pretty Boy.” You joked, your fingers brushing against the spine of the books.   
  
“And my looks have helped on how many cases?” He replied, leaning himself against the row of books you were about to check out. You bit back a laugh at how dumb he was sounding. “Yeah, thought so.”   
  
“And you’re proud of that?” You asked, an eyebrow arching up. His lips drew into an arrogant smirk, you playfully rolled your eyes at him. “Boy, you are dumb.” You muttered, walking over towards another row of books to check out.   
  
It took Dean a few moments to process what you said, he jumped off from the shelf and blocked you from walking anywhere else. “Hey, are you calling me stupid?” He asked, seeming upset about what you said about him.   
  
“Are you calling me ugly?” You retorted back, crossing your arms over your chest. You weren’t serious, but it was always fun to get him all riled up.   
  
Dean opened his mouth to respond, but he quickly shut it to think of something. You shook your head as he just stared at you for a few moments. “N-No. I meant to say—” He started rambling, you laughed at his horrible attempt to make a comeback.   
  
“Relax Winchester, I don’t want to hurt you for thinking too hard of a good comeback.” You said, patting your hand on his shoulder. “Now, let’s put those muscle to use. We’re gonna need a lot of heavy books.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
After finding enough materials to start a possible lead, you headed back towards the motel to do some research. You started reading by sitting on the bed with your legs crossed and the book sitting on your lap while Dean sat on the chair and used the table. Sam laid on the bed closest towards the door and shut his eyes for a few moments before he was passed out.   
  
Halfway through the book, you let out an unexpected yawn. You tried your hardest to keep your eyelids open for just a bit longer. You were getting enough sleep, you didn’t know why you were so tired. Maybe it was from this book because it was so boring. You put the book down for just a few minutes and told Dean you were going to take a ten minute nap…which turned into an hour.   
  
So now Dean was left with two sleeping people and all the research himself, he sighed. But he wasn’t the one having the nightmares, he reminded himself. Sam’s was getting out of control as yours came at random moments. But when you had them, the boys couldn’t wake you up. It was like you were paralyzed with fear. And lately when you came to, you were almost still in a trance of fear. Dean looked at both of your sleeping bodies, neither one of you wanted to talk about the nightmares. What was he going to do?   
  
Hearing the sounds of a gasp, Dean glanced over to see that his brother had woken up. His breathing was heavy as he tried to regain himself back towards a normal state.   
  
Why’d you let me fall asleep?” Sam whispered, looking up at the ceiling.   
  
“Cause I’m an awesome brother.” Dean muttered, looking over at Sam. “So, what did you dream about?”   
  
“Lollipops and candy canes.” He sarcastically replied, turning his head to look at Dean. His brother just rolled his eyes. “You find anything?”   
  
“Oh, besides a whole new level of frustration? No.” Dean said, slamming his book in annoyance. “(Y/N) and I looked at everything. Well, before she passed out.” He looked over at your sleeping body then back at Sam. “A few local women, a Laura and a Catherine, committed suicide in front of a mirror, and a giant mirror fell on a guy named Dave. But, uh…no Mary.”   
  
Sam sighed to himself, throwing his body back down on the pillow. “Maybe we just haven’t found it yet..” He pondered on the idea.   
  
“I’ve been searching for strange deaths in the area, you know, eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing. There’s nothing.” Dean admitted. “Whatever’s happening here, maybe it just ain’t Mary.”   
  
Before Sam could respond, he phone began to ring. He picked it up and looked down to see who was calling, but it was an unknown number. He answered anyway, pressing the phone against his ear and said hello.   
  
Your eyelids slowly fluttered opened at the noise. You looked around the room to see that Sam was awake now, talking to someone on the phone as Dean was still in the same spot. You yawned and slowly started to sit up in bed, you ran your fingers through your bed head.   
  
“Morning Sleeping Beauty.” Dean said, grabbing another book and flipping it open.   
  
“I’m sorry.” You tried to apologize, realizing that you left him to do all the work. “You should have woke me up or something.”   
  
He shrugged his shoulders. “You needed the sleep.” He said, eyes dropping towards the book. “I’m not the one having nightmares.” He muttered to himself, knowing that you couldn’t hear him.   
  
Sam got off the phone a minute later, his face was written with slight shock. You and Dean gave him a worried look. “That was Charlie, the girl from earlier.” He explained. “Someone else died.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
You sat on the bench next to Charlie as she cried, trying to explain of how her friend passed away through her sobs. “And they found her on the bathroom floor. And her—her eyes…they were gone.” She sniffed, looking at the three of you.   
  
“I’m sorry.” Sam apologized.   
  
“And she said it. I heard her say it.” Charlie admitted, the three of you looked at one another. “But it couldn’t be because of that. I’m insane, right?” She looked at all of you for reassure, but you sighed.   
  
“No, you’re not insane.” Dean spoke up, looking down at her.   
  
“God, that makes me feel so much worse.” She mumbled, looking down at the grass.   
  
“Look,” Sam began, looking down at Charlie with sympathy. “We think something might be happening here, something that can’t be explained.”   
  
“And we’re gonna stop it.” Dean interrupted glancing at Charlie. “But we could use your help.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
“This is such a dumb idea.” You muttered, looking down at the ground below you. You were sitting on top of the roof of the girl that passed away. The boys thought it would be a smart move to check out the room to see if there was anything that could lead the case in the right direction.   
  
You watched as the window opened to see Charlie ushering the three of you inside. Sam went first, throwing the the gear bag inside before swinging his legs and sliding himself inside. Dean went next and then it was your turn. You slid inside without a problem as you turned around to shut the window behind you and closed the curtains.   
  
“What did you tell Jill’s mom?” Sam asked, putting the bag on the bed and zipping it open.   
  
“I just said I needed some alone time with Jill’s pictures and things.” She said, pressing a hand towards her forehead. “I hate lying to her.”   
  
“Trust us, this is for the greater good.” Dean said, heading over towards the bed as you followed behind, grabbing the camera and turning it on. He turned towards Charlie. “Hit the lights.”   
  
She did as she was told, the room became dark as she came back and started asking questions. “What are you guys looking for?” She asked, looking between the three of you.   
  
“We’ll let you know as soon as we find it.” Dean explained.   
  
You fooled around with the camera until you got it on the setting that you wanted. “Hey, night vision.” You said, pointing the camera on Dean.   
  
He turned your way and noticed the camera pointing on him. He twisted his side so his back was slightly turned on you, looking over his shoulder. “Do I look like Paris Hilton?” He joked, you shook your head and scoffed.   
  
You handed the camera over towards Sam, he headed over towards the closet and opened the door. He started examining the full length mirror. “So, I don’t get it. I mean, the first victim didn’t summon Mary, and the second victim did. How is she choosing them?” He asked, closing the door and heading towards the bathroom.   
  
“Beats me,” Dean admitted while scanning the room. He turned his attention towards Charlie. “I wanna know why Jill summoned her in the first place.”   
  
Charlie shrugged her shoulders. “It was just a joke.”   
  
“Yeah, well, somebody’s gonna say it again. It’s just a matter of time.” Dean said, bending down to examine something.   
  
“Lay off the poor girl.” You spoke up. “She’s been through a lot.   
  
Dean opened his mouth to say something smart, but you saw that Sam had stepped out of the bathroom and looked at the three of you. “Hey. There’s a black light in the trunk, right?”   
  
  
  
  
You watched as Sam grabbed the bathroom mirror and slowly make his way out into the bedroom again. He set it down so the mirror was lying on the ground. Dean came back through the window with the light that his brother requested. Sam ripped the brown paper backing that revealed a blue background. He turned on the black light, slowly dragging it down. You leaned in close to see what he found. A pair of hand prints and what looked to be a name written with a finger was found. It was as if someone did this with blood before wiping all the evidence away.   
  
“Gary Bryman?” Charlie leaned, reading the name.   
  
“You know who that is?” You asked, turning your attention towards her.   
  
She shook her head, taking a few moments to answer. “No.” You looked at the boys, knowing that there was something more to this.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The next morning you met Charlie in the park again, you and Dean sat with her on the bench while Sam was off gathering information about the name he found. You turned your head when you heard the sound of footsteps approaching behind you. Sam was back, he stood next to you.   
  
“So, Gary Bryan was an eight year old boy.” He explained,looking down at the piece of paper with all the information he found. “Two years ago, he was killed in a hit and run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry, but nobody got the plates or saw the driver.”   
  
“Oh my God.” Charlie spoke up in shock. “Jill drove that car.”   
  
You sighed as you looked at both of the boys. “We need to get back to your friend Donna’s house.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
Just as before, you watched as Sam ran the black light on the bathroom mirror of the Shoemaker’s. You saw the same bloody looking hand prints, but a different name was written out. “Linda Shoemaker.” You muttered, you glanced at the boys with concern.   
  
All of you headed downstairs to talk to Donna, who wasn’t very happy of the subject you were bringing up. “Why are you asking me all of this?” She questioned.   
  
“Look, we’re sorry, but it’s important.” Sam explained.   
  
“Yeah,” Donna said, nodding her head. “Linda’s my mom, okay? And she overdosed on sleeping pills. It was an accident and that’s it.” She looked at the three of you with suspicion. “I think you should leave.”   
  
“Donna, just listen—” Dean tried to speak up, but Donna cut him off.   
  
“Get out of my house!” She yelled, you watched as she bolted out of the room.   
  
You sighed, crossing your arms over your chest. Charlie looked at the boys with surprise. “Oh my God. Do you really think her dad could have killed her mom?” She asked, you shrugged your shoulders, nodding your head. “I think I should stick around.”   
  
“All right, well, just whatever you do, don’t…” Dean went on, hunting of the chant.   
  
“Believe me, I won’t say it.” She quickly said.   
  
Well, one last person you needed to worry about for now.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The printer was hooked up towards your laptop as you sat at the table, listening towards the sound of newspapers and other things that could help the three of you work towards closing this case. “Wait, wait, wait.” You heard Sam speak up, turning away from the collage wall full of different papers to look at you. “You’re doing a nationwide search?”   
  
“Yup.” You muttered, never taking your eyes off the screen. “The NCIC, the FBI database. At this point, any Mary in the country who died in front of a mirror is good enough for me.”   
  
Sam walked over and sat at the edge of the bed as Dean leaned over the chair, watching what you were doing. “But if she’s haunting the town, she should have died in the town.” He reminded you.   
  
You shrugged your shoulders and looked at him. “I told you and Dean, there’s nothing local. I’ve checked. So, unless you idiots got a better idea. Please, speak up.”   
  
Sam sighed to himself. “The way that Mary’s choosing her victims.” Sam turned his attention towards his brother, scratching the back of his neck. “It seems like there’s a pattern.”   
  
“I know, I was thinking the same thing,” Dean said, looking at his brother..   
  
“With Mr. Shoemaker and Jill’s hit and run.” Sam said, turning head to look at the bathroom mirror then looking at the both of you.   
  
“Both had secrets where people died.” Dean finished, nodding his head.   
  
“Right. I mean, there’s a lot of folklore about mirrors that they reveal all your lies, all your secrets. That they’re a true reflection of your soul, which is bad luck to break them.”   
  
“Right. Right.” Dean muttered, looking away from the screen to focus his attention on Sam. “Yeah, so maybe if you got a secret. I mean, like really nasty one where someone died, then Mary sees it and pushes you for it.”   
  
“Whether you’re the one that summoned her or not.” He replied, nodding his head.   
  
“Take a look at this.” You said, gesturing towards what you had found.   
  
You clicked on a few buttons and few seconds later, the photos you found of a crime scene were being printed out. Sam grabbed a few and examined them closely. “Looks like the same hand prints.” He commented.   
  
“Her name was Mary Worthington,” You explained while looking at the screen. “An unsolved murder in Fort Water, Indiana. And you’re never gonna believe how she died.”

\+ + +  
  
“I was on the job for thirty five years. Detective for most of that.” The retired officer spoke up, stepping inside his office as you glanced up from the materials you were observing around the room. He stood with his hands inside his pockets. “Now, everybody packs it in with a few loose ends, but the Mary Worthington Murder…” He was quiet for a few moments before looking at the three of you. “That one still gets me.”   
  
“What exactly happened?” Dean asked, taking a few steps to give the officer a curious look.   
  
“You three said you were reporters.” The officer speculated, giving all of you glances.   
  
“We know Mary was nineteen, lived by herself. She won a few local beauty contests. Dreamed of getting out of Indiana, becoming an actress. ” You stated off the information that you find on the girl. “And we know that on the night of March twenty ninth, someone broke into her apartment and murdered her, cut out her eyes with a knife.”   
  
The officer nodded his head. “That’s right.”    
  
“You see sir, when we asked you what happened. We wanna know what you think happened.” Dean jumped into the conversation, persuading the officer to help the three of you. And it worked.   
  
The officer walked over towards his filing cabinets and taking out the case files that he kept on hand and placed them down on his desk. “Technically, I’m not supposed to have a copy of this.” He explained, you heard Sam softly laugh and look at the two of you. You rolled your eyes, leaning down when the officer opened the file and began flipping through the papers. “Now,” He pulled out a crime scene photo.   
  
It looked to be an old mirror with the reflection of Mary’s lifeless body lying on the floor, you noticed a bloody handprint on the glass and something written in blood, it was like she was trying to write something. You clenched your jaw. You could picture her in her last moments of life, leaning against the mirror and trying her hardest to spell something out before she collapsed and died from the pain and blood loss.   
  
“See that there, ’T-R-E’?” The officer pointed towards the bloody letters. You nodded your head. “I think Mary was trying to spell out the name of her killer.”   
  
“You know who it was?” Sam asked, glancing up to look at the officer.   
  
“Not for sure.” He admitted, pulling out another picture to show an older gentlemen dressed in a tux and grinning. “But there was a local man. A surgeon, Trevor Sampson. And I think he cut her up good.”   
  
“Now, why would he do something like that?” You questioned,   
  
“Her diary mentioned a man she was seeing. She called him by his initial,’T.’ Well, in her last entry,” The officer explained, nodding his head as he remembered. “She was gonna tell T’s wife about their affair.”   
  
“Yeah, but how do you know it was this guy Sampson that killed her?” Dean speculated, stepping up straighter and glancing down at the photo again of the man.   
  
“It’s hard to say.” The officer muttered. “But the way her eyes were cut out, it was almost professional.”   
  
“But you never could prove it?” You pondered.   
  
“No.” The man confessed. “No prints. No witnesses. He was meticulous.”   
  
“Is he still alive?” Dean asked, crossing his arms over his chest.   
  
“Nope.” The officer answered, sitting down at his desk. “If you ask me, Mary spent her last living moments trying to expose this guy’s secrets. But, she never could.”   
  
“Where’s she buried?” Sam asked.   
  
“She wasn’t.” The officer said, glancing up to look at Sam. “She was cremated.” You sighed to yourself, well things just have gotten harder.   
  
Dean glanced down at the mirror that Mary died next to, another thought coming to mind of how she was haunting people. “What about the mirror?” He asked, looking back up at the officer. “It’s not in some evidence lock up somewhere, is it?”   
  
“No.” The officer shook his head, adjusting himself in his seat. “It was returned to Mary’s family a long time ago.”   
  
“You have the names of her family by any chance?” Sam asked, the officer nodded his head.   
  
\+ + +   
  
All of you headed back into the car with the list of the family and their contact information. Sam sat in the passenger side as he got in contact with one of them, but by the tone of his voice when he was wrapping up the conversation, it didn’t seem to be going very well.   
  
“Ah, that’s too bad Mr. Worthington. I would have paid a lot for that mirror. Okay, well maybe next time. Alright, thanks.” Sam hung up the phone and sighed. “So, that was Mary’s brother. The mirror was in the family for years, until he sold it. One week ago.” He quietly laughed at the horrible timing. “To a store called Estate Antiques, a store in Toledo.”   
  
You sighed. “So wherever the mirror goes, that’s where Mary goes?”   
  
“Her spirit’s definitely tied up with it somehow.” Sam agreed, looking around at the country scenery that blurred past him.   
  
“Isn’t there an old superstition that mirrors can capture spirits?” Dean asked.   
  
“Yeah, there is.” Sam agreed. “When someone would die in a house, people would cover up the mirrors so the ghost wouldn’t get trapped.”   
  
“So Mary dies in front of the mirror, and it draws in her spirit.” Dean theorized, looking at his brother for a few seconds before paying attention towards the road again.   
  
“Yeah, but how could she move through like a hundred different mirrors?” You asked, leaning against the front seats as you looked at the brothers.   
  
“I don’t know. But if the mirror is the source, I say we find it and smash it.” Dean said, you wanted to roll your eyes at his dumb idea.   
  
“Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe.” Sam muttered, resting his elbow on the window and pressed his head his open palm. It was quiet between the three of you for a few moments before Sam’s cell phone began ringing. He dug inside his pocket and answered it. “Hello?” His face scrunched up when he recognized the caller. “Charlie?”   
  
\+ + +   
  
Charlie sat on the motel bed in a sitting up fetal position, her head was buried on her knees as she rocked back and forth. You tried to comfort her, mumbling words that she was safe and rubbing her back, anything to get her calm. She was so frantic and scared when you first saw her. Sam and Dean were around the room, shutting curtains and hiding mirrors behind old sheets they found around the room. After they managed to get everything safe, Sam sat on the bed next to Charlie.   
  
“Hey.” Sam whispered, looking down at the frightened girl. “Hey. It’s okay. You can open your eyes, Charlie. It’s okay, all right?” You saw her head slightly move up, her eyes peeking from the green blanket she had wrapped around her body. “Now, listen. You’re going to stay right here on this bed. You’re not gonna look at the glass or anything else that has a reflection, okay? As long as you do that, she can’t get you.   
  
Charlie sniffled a few times, she continued staring at the ground. “But I can’t keep that up forever.” She whispered, taking a quick glance at Sam before looking back down at the ground. “I’m gonna die, aren’t I?”   
  
“No. Not anytime soon.” You reassured her with a warm smile.   
  
Dean sat on the end of the bed next to you. “All right, Charlie. We need to know what happened.”   
  
Charlie let in a deep breath, nodding her head. “We were in the bathroom,” She began. “Donna said it.”   
  
“That’s not what we’re talking about.” Dean said, shaking his head. You wanted to scold him for being so forward, but it wasn’t the time. ‘Something happened, didn’t it? In your life, a secret where someone got hurt?” Charlie looked down at the ground, her face was written with guilt. The brothers looked at one another, Dean continued talking. “Can you tell us about it?”   
  
Her bottom lip quivered like she was going to cry again, but she composed herself to speak. She turned her head to look at Dean. “I had this boyfriend. I loved him.” She explained. “But he kind of scared me too, you know? And one night at his house, we got into this fight. I broke up with him, and he got upset and said he needed me and he loved me. And he said: 'Charlie, if you walk out that door right now, I’m gonna kill myself.’ And you know what I said? I said 'Go Ahead.’ And I left.”   
  
She shook her head, becoming emotional of the memory. She looked at you and Dean, tears pricking her eyes again. “How could I say that?” She looked down at the ground. “How could I leave him like that? I just…I didn’t believe him, you know?” She glanced over at Sam, before turning her head back towards the bed. “I should have.” She leaned her head back into her knees, her sobs echoed off the walls as the three of you became silent.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“You know, her boyfriend killing himself, that’s not really Charlie’s fault.” Dean brought up the conversation on the way towards the shop where the mirror was.   
  
Nighttime had fallen when you had calmed Charlie down long enough to keep her alone. All you had heard for most of the ride was the rain hitting the roof the car and the windshield wipers and the small conversation the boys had been mumbling. You listened in when you heard Charlie’s name, wondering what they were talking about.   
  
“You know as well as I do, spirits don’t exactly see shades of gray, Dean.” Sam disagreed, turning his head to look at his brother. “Charlie had a secret, someone died. That’s good enough for Mary.”   
  
“I guess.” Dean muttered.   
  
“You know, I’ve been thinking, it might not be enough to just smash that mirror.” Sam thought out loud.   
  
Dean turned his head, giving Sam a confused look. “Why, what do you mean?”   
  
“Mary’s hard to pin down, right? I mean, she moves around from mirror to mirror. So who’s to say she’s not gonna just keep hiding in them forever? So maybe…we should try to pin her down. You know, summon her to her mirror and then smash it.”   
  
“Well, how do you know that’s gonna work?” Dean questioned, turning to give his brother a quick look.   
  
“I don’t. I’m not for sure.” Sam mumbled, keeping his attention towards the road.   
  
“Well, who’s gonna summon her?” Dean asked, continuing to press his brother for the truth. You and Dean knew what this was about, but you kept quiet to see if it was what you expected.   
  
“I will.” Sam answered. “She’ll come after me.”   
  
You sighed loudly to yourself, maybe it was your over protectiveness that was slowly being tested out these past few days. You were getting tired of Sam acting like this. And you sure weren’t going to have him risk his life like this. You quickly popped your head in between both of the boys. “All right, I’ve had enough of this.”You muttered to yourself. You pointed a finger at Dean. “Pull the car over, now.”   
  
Dean didn’t complain, knowing both of you had the same plan inside your mind. You felt the car swerve towards the left side of the road. He turned off the engine and twisted his body around, draping his arm over the seat so he could look at Sam.   
  
“This is about Jessica, isn’t it?” He began. Sam kept quiet, his facial expression blank. “You think that’s your dirty little secret, that you killed her somehow? Sam, this has got to stop, man.” He said, shaking his head. “I mean, the nightmares and—calling out her name in the middle of the night, it’s gonna kill you. Now, you listen to me. It wasn’t your fault.   
  
“If you want to blame something, than blame the thing that killed her. Or hell, take a swing at me? I’m the one that dragged you away from her in the first place.”   
  
Sam turned his head, finally saying something. “I don’t blame you.” He said towards his brother.   
  
You sighed, clenching your jaw. “You shouldn’t be blaming yourself, because there’s nothing you could have done.” You jumped into the conversation. You gave him a look, but he just turned his head to look at you.   
  
“I could have warned her.” He argued back, but his tone was still at the same monotone level.   
  
“About what?” You yelled, getting up in your seat to stare at him. “You didn’t know what was gonna happen! Nobody did! Stop being yourself up over it.” He just rolled his eyes, turning his head back to look at the road. You scoffed and swallowed the urge to smack him upside the head.   
  
“And, besides, all of this isn’t a secret. I mean, (Y/N) I know all about it. It’s not gonna work with Mary anyway.” Dean jumped back into the conversation.   
  
“You don’t know that.” Sam muttered underneath his breath.   
  
“I don’t what?” Dean questioned.   
  
“You don’t know all about it. I haven’t told you two everything.” Sam explained, turning his head to look at Dean, ignoring your confused glare. You and him were almost honest about everything, especially when it came towards the nightmares. Well, you had left a few things out of your own, but you weren’t risking your life right now.   
  
“What are you talking about?” Dean’s voice dropped, barely into a whisper now.   
  
“It wouldn’t really be a secret if I told you, know would it?” Sam asked, his tone was almost lined with sarcasm. You gritted your teeth together at how he was acting.   
  
“No.” Dean spoke up after a few moments, trying to find the right response. “And I don’t like it. It’s not gonna happen, forget it.” He was acting like he was scolding a small child that wasn’t getting their own way.   
  
“Dean, that girl back there is going to die unless we do something about it.” Sam argued. “And you know what? Who knows how many more people are going to die after that? Now, we’re doing this.” Dean just turned his head and glared at his brother, shaking his head. “You’ve got to let me do this.”   
  
It took Dean a few moments to come up with an answer. He let out a sharp sigh, turning his body around in the seat until he was sitting properly. You heard the sound of the engine kick back in.   
  
“Fine,” He grunted out. “But when you survived this dumb stunt, the three of us are having a long talk after this.” Sam quietly laughed, shaking his head. You just fell silent, leaning back in your seat, oblivious of Dean’s eyes that watched you from time to time in the rear view mirror.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You stood outside the antique store with you and Dean as a watch out while Sam crouched down and picked the lock. You looked around every so often at the empty streets, wondering if someone was going to come up, but nobody was around. You heard the sound of the lock click as Sam turned the knob and pushed the door open. All of you stepped inside, and took a look around the place.   
  
A clap of thunder echoed outside as the front door shut behind you. You curiously glanced around, the shop was covered in different mirrors. There were some that hung on the wall, a small oval one that sat on a table and so many others that leaned against one another on the floor.   
  
Sam pulled out a flashlight and turned it on, shining it around the room. “Well, that’s just great.” Dean said while placing his hands on his hips, looking around at the many different mirrors. He dug inside his jacket pocket and pulled out the picture of Mary’s mirror. Sam shined on it so all of you could take a good look at it. “All right, let’s start looking.”   
  
You and Sam decided to stick together as Dean went his own way. You looked around at the place, it was filled mostly with old things that you would expect to find in someone’s attic or furnished an old person’s house. You were seeing a few mirrors that were hanging up, but not the one that you needed to find.   
  
“Maybe they’ve already sold it.” You heard Dean shout from the other side of the shop.   
  
You were about to respond,but your eyes jumped on the mirror when Sam flashed the light on it. Both of you looked at one another before glancing back at the object. “I don’t think so.” Sam answered.   
  
You heard footsteps approach from behind you until you saw Dean’s figure in the corner of your eye. He glanced at the picture than at the mirror in front of you for a few moments. “That’s it.” He said, exhaling a breath as he turned to look at Sam. “Are you sure about this?” Sam didn’t answer, he just shoved the flashlight towards Dean’s hand.   
  
All of you slowly approached the mirror, Sam stood in front of it as he looked at himself for a few seconds before starting the chant. You held your breath. “Bloody Mary.” He began, he swallowed and kept silent for a few seconds. “Blood Mary.” He chanted again, he looked at Dean before getting ready to swing the iron wrench towards the mirror. Sam took a deep breath in and said it once more. “Bloody Mary.”   
  
Suddenly you saw what looked to be headlight from a car shine through, lighting up the store. You and Dean looked at one another with a worried look. “We'll check it out.” Dean said towards Sam, nodding for you to follow him. “You stay here.”   
  
“Be careful.” You warned him, following behind Dean as he headed towards the door.   
  
“Smash anything that moves.” Dean reminded him, you rolled your eyes and pushed him to start walking faster.   
  
Both of you slowly came towards the front of the store, he crouched down so he could see what was going on outside. He pulled out an arm so you would stop, he looked outside to see it wasn’t something that all of you had time for. “Crap.” He muttered to himself, he hid the iron wrench on some little shelf both of you were hiding behind.   
  
“What is it?” You asked in a worried tone.   
  
“Just follow my lead. And don’t say anything.” He warned, standing up straighter as both of you opened the front door towards the shop and stepped outside to see who it was. Your face dropped into panic when you saw it was the cops.   
  
“Hold it!” The first cop shouted, pointing his gun at you, slowly taking steps towards you.   
  
“Whoa, guys, false alarm. I tripped the system.” Dean lied, laughing nervously as he threw his hands up in the air in defense.   
  
“Who are you two?” The second cop asked.   
  
“We’re the boss’s kid.” Dean explained, but from the looks that the cops gave one another, they weren’t buying his story. You nervously gulped.   
  
“You’re Mr. Yamashiro’s kid?” The first cop asked.   
  
Dean smiled, tilting his head up as he was trying to hear what the cop had said. You sighed, knowing that he had himself back into a corner. He spoke up, trying to make an excuse up as you watched the cops slowly taking steps forward. This boy somehow always managed to get himself caught in the dumbest ways.   
  
“Like I said, I was adopted.” Dean explained, the first officer nodded, rolling his eyes.   
  
“You know, we really don’t have time for this right now.” You said towards the cop, he just sarcastically smiled and nodded his head.    
  
You smiled innocently at the second officer, you turned around and did the thing that you had been itching to do. You kicked your foot up and hit the cop right in between his privates. You watched as he dropped towards his knees. In the process of him going down, you saw Dean punch the cop on his left a few times until he fell into unconsciousness. You couldn’t help yourself, you used up all your pent up rage and punched the officer right in the jaw, watching as his body dropped towards the ground.   
  
You shook out your hand, it was now throbbing from the pain. Turning your head you saw that Dean was rather impressed at what you did. You rolled your eyes. “Hello! Sam!” You yelled, gesturing towards the shop with your normal hand.   
  
Both of you dashed inside the shop as fast as you could. You dropped towards your knees when you saw Sam was crouched on the floor, his head staring at the ground. You covered your body to shield him from the glass when you heard Dean swing the iron and smash the mirror, you felt pieces of glass hit your back.   
  
He dropped the wrench towards the ground and called out his brother’s name. You placed both hands on Sam’s cheeks and saw that his eyes were bleeding, a few lines dripped down his face, it was as if he was crying blood.   
  
“Sammy! Sammy!” You shouted frantically.   
  
It felt like forever of silence, until he spoke up in a sarcastic tone. “It’s Sam.” He muttered. You sighed in relief.   
  
“God, are you okay/” Dean asked, examining his brother’s wounds. He glanced at the mirror before turning his attention towards Sam again. “Um, yeah.” Sam said.   
  
“Come on, we need to get out here.” You wrapped Sam’s arm around your shoulders and Dean did the same for the other. Both of you managed to get Sam off the ground and headed towards the front entrance for a few steps. But then that bad feeling, like something following behind you crept down your spine, you stopped in your tracks.   
  
You slowly turned your head, a gasp escaped your throat. On the ground was a small figure with dirty black hair covering her face, she was dressed in a filthy dress, Mary. She crawled on the glass as she slowly inched her way towards you. All of you turned around as you watched her start to stand up and walk her way up to you.   
  
Your hands suddenly jumped towards your eyes, the pain was becoming unbearable. She was making all of you go through what she had, you dropped towards your knees again and cradled your head inside the palm of your hands. You groaned out in pain, you felt the blood that started to trickle out of your eyes. You squeezed your eyes shut harder, trying your hardest to figure out a way to make all of this stop.   
  
But Dean beat you towards it, he opened his eyes and frantically looked around the room to see what he could do. He spotted a mirror that was on his left. He grabbed it and aimed it at Mary. It took a few moments, but she stopped walking. She propped her head normally so he could see her face.   
  
“You killed them!” Her reflection screamed in a demonic voice, Mary’s eyes were bleeding now as she stared at herself. She gasped and placed a hand on her chest. Her reflection growled in anger. “All those people! You killed them!” She slowly started to disintegrate, her body turned into mush and poof—she defeated herself, all that remained was a puddle of blood.   
  
Dean threw the mirror and watched as it broke into tiny pieces. The pain slowly started to subside, you slowly blinked and lifted your head up to see that she was gone. Your breathing was heavy, but you were okay.   
  
“Hey, Sam?” Dean asked.   
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“That’s gotta be like what, six hundred years bad luck?” You scoffed at his horrible question, wiping the blood with the back of your hand. You had enough back luck, what’s another few more years?   
  
\+ + +   
  
The Impala drove around the neighborhood, you sat in the backseat with Charlie. She was quiet for most of the ride, she was probably trying to get herself back to normal over the past terrifying three days. You watched as the car stopped across the sidewalk from her house. Dean turned off the engine and turned his body around to look at Charlie.   
  
“So this is really over?” She asked, looking at the three of you for reassurance.   
  
You nodded, smiling at her. “Yeah, it’s over.” You said.   
  
“Thank you.” She said, Dean nodded his head. You and her shared a quick hug before watching as she stepped outside of the car and headed back towards her house.   
  
“Charlie?” Sam called, she stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at him. “Your boyfriend’s death, you should really try to forgive yourself. No matter what you did, you probably couldn’t have stopped it. Sometimes, bad things just happen.”   
  
She took in a deep breath, smiling at Sam before turning around and walked inside her house. You leaned in your seat and lightly slapped his arm. “That was good advice.” You said with a smile. “Look at you trying to be a handsome Dr. Phil.” You joked as he playfully rolled his eyes, turning his head towards the front of him.   
  
The three of you headed back on the road and fell into a silence for most of the ride. When you hit the city area, you heard Dean and Sam strike up another conversation.   
  
“Hey, Sam?” Dean asked.   
  
“Yeah?” He turned his head to look at his brother.   
  
“Now that this is all over, I want you to tell me what that secret was.” Dean said, taking a quick glance before focusing on the road ahead of him.   
  
Sam softly chuckled. “Look…you’re my brother. And I’d die for you and (Y/N). But there are some things I need to keep to myself.” He admitted, turning his head to look outside the window.   
  
“No matter what you do, you’re gonna learn the truth.” You found yourself saying, staring off into space. “We all are.”   
  
But none of the boys heard you. Dean was busy concentrating on the road as Sam swore he was seeing things, but it couldn’t be possible. He didn’t just see his dead girlfriend just standing on the sidewalk as they drove passed her, did he? Sam blinked a few times and sighed. No. He was just going crazy. 


	6. Skin.

You sat in the backseat of the Impala with your eyes and mind focused on your favorite book that you were reading for the thousandth time. You let the silence that had fallen between the three of you as chance to sneak yourself off into a fictional world with different characters that you had grown to love. That was the thing that you admired about reading. For just a moment, you could step away from your new hectic life and just become someone different for a while.   
  
You didn’t notice that Dean had stopped at a gas station and turned off the car, he started speaking, but you or Sam weren’t paying attention. “All right. I figure we’d hit Tucumcari by lunch. Then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight.” Dean turned his head to see that Sam was busy on his phone and you were still reading, both of you not bothering to look up. “Sam wears women's underwear and (Y/N) is a loser.”   
  
“Shut up, Winchester.” You muttered.   
  
“I’m listening. I’m just busy.” Sam mumbled, clicking on something.   
  
“Busy doing what?” Dean asked, stepping outside of the car.   
  
“Reading emails.” Sam answered, still not looking up.   
  
“Emails from who?” You asked, lifting your head up finally from the book. Dean peaked his head inside the car to glance at his brother to find out the answer.   
  
“From my friends at Stanford.” Sam said, glaring at his brother when he scoffed.   
  
“You’re kidding.” Dean said, heading towards the pumps. “You still keep in touch with your college buddies?”   
  
“Why not?” Sam asked.   
  
“Well,” Dean went over towards the trunk and bent down, putting the pump inside and walking back over to the two of you, leaning his backside against the car. “What exactly do you tell them, you know, about where you been. What you’ve been doing.”   
  
“I tell them I’m a road trip with my big brother and best friend.” Sam explained. “I told them I needed some time off after Jess.”   
  
“Well, so you lie to them.” Dean pointed out.   
  
“No.” Sam argued. “I just don’t tell them everything.”   
  
“Yeah, Sammy. That’s called lying.” You spoke up.   
  
Sam frowned at you, knowing that you weren’t exactly helping. You just shrugged it off and paid attention back towards your book. Sam turned his head to look at Dean again when he spoke. “Hey, man, I get it.” Dean said, trying to keep a smirk hidden. “Telling them the truth is far worse.”   
  
“So, what am I supposed to do? Just cut everyone out of my life?” Sam asked, Dean just shrugged his shoulders. “You’re serious?”   
  
“Look, it sucks.” Dean admitted. “But in a job like this, you can’t get close to people.”   
  
“You’re kind of anti-social. You know that, right?” Sam asked in a matter of fact voice, turning his body around so he was sitting straighter. He paid attention back towards his phone so he could real the email his friend sent him.   
  
“Yeah, whatever.” Dean muttered, looking out at the distance.   
  
The silence fell between the three of you for a few minutes. As you were about to turn towards the next chapter, your eyes darted up when you heard Sam speak in a shocked tone. Dean turned around and bent down, leaning his body on the open window. ”What?” You asked, giving him a worried look.   
  
“This email from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine.” Sam explained, tapping on the screen to read more.   
  
“Is she hot?” Dean wondered, you rolled your eyes.   
  
Sam just gave his brother a look before turning his eyes back towards the screen. “I went to school with her and her brother Zach. She says Zach’s been charged with murder.” He said, even though it sounded like a question to you. “He’s been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn’t do it. But it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case.”   
  
“Dude, what kind of people you hanging out with?” Dean asked.   
  
“Dean!” You scolded him. He turned his head and gave you a look, knowing that he was just trying to look out for his brother. You sighed to yourself.   
  
“No, man. I know Zach, he’s not a killer.” Sam said, shaking his head as he looked at Dean.   
  
“Well, maybe you know Zach as well as he knows you.” Dean said.   
  
Sam rolled his eyes. “They’re in St. Louis. We’re going.”   
  
Dean chuckled to himself, looking down at the ground before looking back up at his brother with an amused face. “I’m sorry about your buddy, okay? But this doesn’t sound like our kind of problem.”   
  
“It is our problem. They’re my friends.” Sam argued, trying to convince his brother.   
  
“St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam.” Dean said.   
  
You pulled your body up and looked at the oldest Winchester with an annoyed look. “Seriously, Dean? This is good friend, we’re talking about. Sam would do it for you. You know…if you had a friend.“   
  
Dean was quiet for a few moments, trying to ignore the looks that you and Sam were giving him. He grumbled to himself, stepping to stand up straighter. He walked over and put the pump out of the car before placing it back into the spot. Just a minute later the Impala’s tires screeched against the blacktop as all you headed towards St. Louis.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You stood outside on the front porch with your hands at your sides, you watched as Sam rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. It took a few moments, the door opened to reveal a blonde woman, her gaze immediately went towards Sam as she broke out grinning.   
  
“Oh, my God. Sam!” She chuckled, resting her hand on the door entrance.   
  
“Well, if it isn’t little Becky.” Sam teased, she rolled her eyes.   
  
“You know you can do with that “little Becky” crap.” She said, stepping forward to give Sam a hug. Both of them separated after a few seconds and stood back to normal.   
  
“I got your email.” Sam said, shoving his hands inside his back pocket.   
  
“I didn’t think that you would come here.” Becky confessed.   
  
Dean stepped forward slightly, making sure to introduce himself. “Dean Winchester—older brother.” Becky smiled, shaking his hand as they both shared hellos.   
  
“And this is (Y/N) (Y/L/N), she’s a family friend.” Sam said, pointing towards you as you politely stood and smiled at her. “We’re here to help. Whatever we can do.”   
  
“Come in.” Becky stepped out of the way as she gestured for the three of you to follow behind.   
  
Sam stepped in first as you followed behind, you heard the door shut behind you. Your eyes wandered around the interior design of the place, you had to admit, it was quite a nice home as all of you headed deeper inside.   
  
“Nice place.” Sam commented.   
  
“It’s my parents. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened.” Becky said, turning to look over her shoulder at Sam while explaining. “I decided to take the semester off. I’m gonna stay until Zach is free.”   
  
“Where are your folks?” Sam asked, looking down at Becky.   
  
“They live in Paris for half the year, so they’re on their way home now for the trial.” She said as all you stepped inside the kitchen. “Do you guys want a beer or something?”   
  
Dean smiled, pointing at her. “Hey.”   
  
But you cut him off, smiling at Becky. “No, thanks.” Dean’s face dropped, he stood next you as you leaned against the marble counter.   
  
“So,” Sam said, standing on your left as he looked at Becky. “Tell us what happened.”   
  
“Well, um, Zach had came home, and he found Emily tied to a chair.” Becky explained, taking a few steps forward so she was standing closer to Sam. “And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn’t breathing.” Her voice cracked as she continued the story. “And so he…he called 911 and the police. They showed up, and…they arrested him.”   
  
You could see that tears were starting to glaze over in her eyes when she looked at all three of you while talking. “But the thing is, the only way Zach could have killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time.” She said, the brothers looked at one another for a few seconds. So, this might be something that the three of you could be working on. “The police, they have a video. It’s from the security tape from across the street and it shows Zach coming home at ten thirty. Now, Emily was killed just after that. But I swear he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight.”   
  
“You know, maybe we could see the crime scene—Zach’s house?” Sam asked, your eyebrows shot up at the bold question he was trying to pass.   
  
“We could?” Dean spoke up, giving his brother a confused glare.   
  
“Why? What could you do?” Becky questioned, looking at Sam.   
  
“Well, me, not much.” Sam admitted, he turned to look at his brother as a lie slipped out his mouth. “But Dean’s a cop.” Becky glanced over at the oldest Winchester.   
  
Dean nervously chuckled, grinning at Becky. “A detective, actually.” He pretended to correct Sam.   
  
“Really? Where?” She asked, smiling slightly.   
  
“Bisbee, Arizona.” He answered, looking at Sam before focusing on Becky again. “But I’m off duty now.”   
  
Becky was quiet for a few moments, tossing the idea around in her mind. “I don’t know,” She confessed. “You guys, it’s just so nice to offer. But it’s just—I don’t know.” She was becoming emotional again, she rested her hands on the counter and sighed quietly to herself.   
  
“Beck, look,” Sam said, looking at the ground before glancing up at Becky again. “I know Zach didn’t do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he’s innocent.”   
  
She looked at the three of you. “Okay.” She said, smiling. “I’m gonna go get the keys.”   
  
Dean stepped forwards towards Sam as he watched Becky step out the room until she was gone out of sight. He whistled and look at his brother. “Oh yeah, man. You’re a real straight shooter with your friends.”   
  
“Look, Zach and Becky need our help.” Sam said.   
  
“I just don’t think this is our kind of problem.” Dean confessed, shaking his head.   
  
“Two places at once, though?” You asked. “We’ve looked into less.”   
  
Dean sighed to himself, he just shrugged his shoulders, deciding to go along with the plan to head towards the crime scene to see if there was anything that could rule this as something with the supernatural touch.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The four of you drove to the crime scene; Sam and Dean were in the front as you and Becky were to sit in the back. You watched as the house came into view when Dean pulled over towards the other side of the street so he could park next to the curb. All you headed out of the car, you and Sam walked up just in time for Becky to speak up.   
  
“You’re sure this is okay?” She asked, looking at Dean for approval.   
  
“Yeah. I am an officer of the law.” Dean stated. You had to bite your bottom lip to keep a smile from spreading across your lips. You didn’t know why you were finding this so amusing.   
  
All of you headed over towards the house, making sure there wasn’t any real police officers in the area. You stood as Dean grabbed the key from Becky so he could unlock the front door. He pushed it open as all you headed inside, making sure to duck underneath the yellow police tape.   
  
Your eyes wandered around the place; you noticed that the wall next to the front door had blood spatter on it, hell, there was blood everywhere. You swallowed as you crossed your arms over your chest and made sure not to step on anything. The place looked trashed with blood covering a bit of everywhere. Whatever happened here, it wasn’t pretty.   
  
“Beck, you want to wait outside?” Sam asked in a sympathetic tone, seeing that his friend was just standing in the doorway.   
  
She shook her head, ducking underneath the tape as she came inside. “No, I want to help.”   
  
Your eyes wandered on a table that Dean was circling; you noticed there was yellow numbered cards, markings from the police so they could take pictures of each spot. You glanced at Becky when Sam spoke up. “Tell us what else the police said.”   
  
“Well, there was no sign of a break-in.” Becky explained, her hand wrapped around her necklace as she tore her eyes away from something. She looked at the two of you. “They say that Emily let her attacker in. And the lawyers are already talking about a plea bargain.”   
  
All of you looked at the blood that stained a picture and the wall next to it. You clenched your jaw when you heard Becky sob, trying her hardest to focus on something simple that wasn’t ruined. But there wasn’t many options.   
  
“Look, Beck,” Sam said. “If Zach didn’t do this, it means that someone else did.” She nodded her head in agreement. “Any idea who?”   
  
Becky shook her head, she stayed quiet as she tried to think of someone as she glanced around the room. It took her a few moments, but she remembered. “Wait, there was something. About a week before, somebody broke in here and stole some clothes—Zach’s clothes. And the police, they don’t think it’s anything. I mean, we’re not that far from downtown. I mean, sometimes people get robbed.”   
  
You suddenly heard the sound of a dog howling outside as it continued barking. You walked over towards the front door that was cracked open slightly and peeked outside as Dean joined you. You noticed the dog was staring right at the house.   
  
“You know, that used to be the sweetest dog.” Becky said, standing behind you.   
  
“What happened?” You asked as you looked over your shoulder to stare at her.   
  
“He just changed.” She said, not making much of it.   
  
An idea popped inside your head. “Do you remember when he changed?”   
  
“I guess around the time of the murder.” Becky answered, you nodded your head and looked at the dog for a few seconds more before turning your attention at Dean. It seemed that he knew what you were thinking.   
  
Both of you headed over towards Sam, who was standing next to the fridge and looking at a picture of his friends and himself. You crossed your arms over your chest and broke him from his concentration as you spoke up. “So the neighbor’s dog went psycho right around the time Zach’s girlfriend was killed.” You said, making sure your tone was in a whisper so Becky couldn’t hear you.   
  
“Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal.” Sam commented, looking at you.   
  
Dean turned his head away from the door and looked at the two of you. “Maybe Fido saw something.” He said, you sighed at his sense of humor.   
  
“So you think, maybe, this is our kind of problem?” Sam asked, looking at his brother.   
  
“No. Probably not.” Said Dean, shaking his head.   
  
“But—we should look at the security tape to make sure.” You said, both brother nodded their heads. There was something about this case that seemed like it was, you just wanted to make sure that your suspicions were wrong before leaving it up to a court.   
  
Becky walked up towards the three of you, Dean turned around. “So the tape, the security footage? Think maybe your lawyers could hang their hands on it? I just don’t have that kind of jurisdiction.” Dean lied.   
  
“I’ve already got it.” Becky said, you were pleasantly surprised at her quick answer. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of a cop.” Dean chuckled, turning his attention towards the ground for a few seconds. “I, um, stole it off the lawyer’s desk.” She confessed. “I just had to see it for myself.”   
  
“All right.” Dean said, grinning at the three of you. “Let’s head back and look at the tape, shall we?”   
  
\+ + +   
  
Night had fallen when the three of you settled back at Becky’s house. You stood behind the couch that Becky was sitting on as you watched the screen. Four different security cameras were running at the same time, but you paid attention towards all of them. Everything looked almost normal.   
  
“Here it comes.” Becky said.   
  
“22:04—that’s just after ten.” Dean observed, his eyes dropping towards Becky. “You said the time of death was about ten thirty.”   
  
Becky nodded slightly. “Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape’s authentic. It wasn’t tampered with.”   
  
It was quiet just for a second as you observed the tape, but Sam broke you out of your concentration. “Hey Beck, can we take those beers now?” He asked, smiling.   
  
“Oh, sure.” She said, lifting herself up and heading towards the door.   
  
“Hey, uh…maybe some sandwiches, too?” He asked, laughing.   
  
“What do you think this is, Hooters?” She asked, playfully rolling her eyes at his quick requests. She smiled and walked out of the door.   
  
“I wish.” You heard Dean mutter, you couldn’t help yourself but smack him on the arm. He gave you a dirty glare as both of you headed towards the TV to get a closer look at what Sam found. “What is it?”   
  
“Check this out.” Sam said, he rewound the tape for a few seconds and stopped. Your eyes landed on the second screen on the left when you saw Zach come into the frame. You noticed that when he looked into the view of the camera, his eyes went white. Sam stopped the tape.   
  
“Maybe it’s just a camera flare.” Dean commented.   
  
You shook your head, you had watched a lot of security tapes, but none quite like this one. “That’s not like any camera flare I’ve ever seen.” Sam said.   
  
“You know, a lot of cultures believe a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul.” You said, the boys nodded as Dean mumbled a right. “Remember the dog that was freaking out? Maybe he saw the same thing.” You gestured towards the screen. “Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zach's—something that looks like him, but isn’t him.”   
  
“Like a doppelganger.” Dean said, nodding his head.   
  
“That would sure explain how he was in two places at once.” Sam commented, never taking his eyes off the glowing white eyes.

\+ + + 

Knocking was the first thing that you heard when your eyelids slowly fluttered open from the four hours of sleep you managed to get. You groaned, not bothering to look at the time as you saw that dawn was slowly creeping through the clouds. You rolled out of bed and ran your fingers through your bed head hair, you yawned to yourself and looked outside the little peephole to see who was bothering you. Noticing a tall figure with brown hair, you sighed to yourself and unlocked the door, ripping it open with a frown.   
  
“Sam Winchester, what are you doing here?” You asked, standing with your hands on your hips. He smiled innocently and held up two coffee cups and a small brown paper bag. You sighed, allowing him to step inside your motel room as you closed the door behind you. “Do I even want to know what time you woke up?”   
  
You rubbed your eyes to get rid of the sleep as Sam walked over towards your bed and sat down. “Not really,” He admitted, taking a sip of his drink. You sighed and walked over towards him, grabbing your cup and taking a sip of the drink. “Dean isn’t awake yet, I thought that you would be more easier to wake up. And I didn’t want him to see this.”   
  
Sam put down the cup on the nightstand and opened up the paper bag, revealing your favorite breakfast pastry. You grinned and snatched it from his hands, you noticed that the food was still warm. “Oh my, you’re officially my favorite person.” You admitted, sinking your teeth into the food and took a big bite, Sam just laughed at how you reacted.   
  
“I don’t think the girl at the bakery was very happy with me.” He admitted sheepishly. “But, you’ve been a great help these past few weeks. I wanted to do something special for you.” You saw his innocent dimples flash through, you blushed and rolled your eyes. “And I know how much you loved them, so I decided to pick one up for you.”   
  
“You didn’t need to go through all the trouble.” You said, covering your hand over your mouth as you spoke to keep from the crumb falling on the floor. Sam shrugged his shoulders, taking another sip of his drink.   
  
You sat back on the bed and continued to eat, both of you sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments. You didn’t seem to notice Sam’s hand that was slowly creeping towards your breakfast until it was too late. He grabbed a piece as you whipped your head towards his direction. You playfully swatted his hand away and frowned at him. “Hey!” You shouted, trying your hardest not to smile.   
  
Sam just grinned, popping the food into his mouth and shaking his head. “Snooze you lose, (Y/N).” He simply said, reaching to grab another piece.   
  
But you quickly snatched it away from him before he had the chance to take more. “Get your own, you big…Sasquatch.” You tried to think of a quick insult, but your mind went blank.   
  
Sam chuckled and shook his head. “While you think of a better comeback, Shrimp. I’m gonna wake up Dean. I want to check out out the place where Zach was last seen.” Sam said, getting himself off the bed.   
  
“Sounds good, Sasquatch. I’ll probably be ready by the time that Dean rolls out of bed. We’ll reconvene in a half an’ hour.” You watched as Sam nodded his head, smiling one last time before heading out of the door leaving you alone. You finished your breakfast and washed it down the rest of the drink.   
  
Letting the caffeine swim through your body, you managed to get yourself ready in a proper amount of time. You stepped outside of your motel room as you locked the door behind you. Just as you put the key into your pocket, you noticed Dean and Sam heading out of their room, you headed over towards them. You saw that Dean looked pissed at how early, he sipped his coffee as he just stared at you.   
  
“Morning sunshine.” You said with a smile, he just mocked your presence and walked towards the Impala without saying a word. You looked at Sam who just shrugged his shoulders. Both of you headed towards the car and headed towards the spot.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“All right. What are we doing here at five thirty in the morning?’ Dean asked, opening the car and stepping outside, following you and Sam.   
  
“I realized something.” Sam said, stopping at the front of the car. “The videotape shows the killer going in but not coming out.”   
  
“So he came out of the back door?” Dean asked, taking a sip of his coffee, not taking much of an interest into what Sam was theorizing. He watched as his brother headed over towards the other side of the street.   
  
“Right, so there should be a trail to follow—a trail that the police would never pursue.” Sam said, walking straight towards the dumpster, you grimaced when you saw him stick his head inside to look around.   
  
“Because they think the killer never left. They caught your friend Zach inside.” Dean said, leaning his body against the hood and pressed the cup back against his lips. “Still don’t know what we’re doing here at five thirty in the morning.” He muttered to himself.   
  
You rolled your eyes and gave him a glare. “Shut up.” You said. He just gave you a look and turned his attention towards Sam when he was looking at the two of you.   
  
You looked to see that Sam was standing at the telephone pole. “Blood.” He simply said. “Somebody came this way.”   
  
“Maybe the trail ends. I don’t see anything over here.” You said, turning around to take a peek at the surroundings. But before you could see anything more, your attention was ripped away when you heard the sound of sirens as an ambulance passed you by. The brothers looked at one another, all of you decided to see where it headed.   
  
All of you walked for a few minutes, the area opened up to see a crowd of people around a house that was being cordoned off as a police officer dragged yellow tape. You saw a runner was looking at the scene with shock, she stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. You came up to her and stopped. “What happened here?” You asked, none of you taking your eyes off the scene, afraid you would miss something.   
  
“He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her.” She explained, you turned your head and looked at her for a few moments.   
  
“Really?” Sam asked, looking at the runner.   
  
“I used to see him going to work in the morning. He’d wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice guy.” She said, shaking her head in disbelief as she watched the man being placed inside the back of a cop car.   
  
You and Sam decided to slip away as Dean went around talking to some of the officers. You watched as he began to peek inside the blue trash cans as you followed behind, looking around at the place, not exactly sure what you should be looking for. As the both of you headed towards the end of the home, you heard Dean shout. You turned around to see that he was now walking up towards you and Sam.   
  
“Hey. Remember when I said this wasn’t our kind of problem?” Dean asked, you nodded your head, even thought you knew it was. “Definitely our kind of problem.” God, that boy was slow. “I talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene. He heard this guy Alex’s story. Apparently this dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked.”   
  
“He was in two places at once.” You stated, shaking your head. It looks like this creature had struck again.   
  
“Exactly. Then he sees himself in the house. Police think he’s a nut job.” Dean explained.   
  
“Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way.” Sam said, walking a few steps forward as he turned around to look at you and Sam.   
  
“Could be the same thing doing it, too.” You noted. “Same victim. Same cause of death.”   
  
“Shapeshifter?” Sam asked, Dean just shrugged his shoulders. “Something that could make itself look like anyone?”   
  
“Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore—legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men.” You explained, looking at both of the boys.   
  
“Skin walkers. Werewolves.” Sam said, nodding his head.   
  
“Two attacks within each block of each other. I’m guessing we have a shape shifter problem in the neighborhood.” Dean said.   
  
“Let me ask you this.” Sam looked at you. “In all of the shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?” You watched as he walked a few feet, his head tilted up as he examined the building.   
  
“Not that I know of.” You said, shrugging your shoulders.   
  
“I picked up a trail here.” He turned his back towards you as he looked around the area for a few moments. “Someone ran out the back of this building, headed the other way.”   
  
“Just like your friend’s house.” Dean said, nodding his head.   
  
“Yeah. And just like at Zach’s house, the trails suddenly ends. Whatever it is just disappeared.”   
  
Dean looked around the place, frowning slightly. “Well, there’s another way to go. Down.” You turned your head towards the ground to see what Dean was looking at. You sighed and noted, he was talking about the sewers.   
  
You watched as Dean took off the heavy top towards the tunnel before slipping down first, you waited until you couldn’t see him before heading down next. You went down the ladder and found yourself finding it quite easy to make out your surroundings as the daylight poured through the storm drains that were right above you. You watched as Dean looked around the place as Sam covered up the top and headed his way down.   
  
“I bet this runs right by Zach’s house, too.” Sam said, looking around. You and Sam walked up towards Dean that was now standing a few feet away from you. “The shape shifter could be using the sewer system to get around.”   
  
“I think you’re right. Look at this.” Dean said.   
  
All of you took a few steps and crouched down to see what Dean had found. He pulled out his knife from his back pocket. You noticed a large puddle of what you presumed to be was human flesh, the color was a mix of pink and red hues. You had to put a hand over your mouth to keep yourself from vomiting. This wasn’t what you were expecting to find. And to make it worse, Dean decided to take the blade of the knife and take a poke at it.   
  
“Oh. Is this from his victims?” Sam asked with disgust.   
  
You watched as Dean tried to pick up a piece of the mess, but it was like goo, it just stretched into a thin line as he examined it. “You know, I just had a sick thought.” Dean said, looking at the both of you. “When the shapeshifter changes shape, maybe it sheds its skin.”   
  
“Like a snake? That is sick.” You muttered to yourself.   
  
All of you headed out of the tunnels and went towards the Impala again, knowing that exactly what you were dealing with was a shapeshifter. Great, a creature that could take the form of anyone in this entire world. Now, that wasn’t going to be a problem. You sighed to yourself as you watched Dean open up the trunk of the car.   
  
“Well, one thing that I learned from Dad,” Dean said as he popped open the secret compartment where he kept all of his weapons. “No matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there’s one sure way to kill it.”   
  
“Silver bullet to the heart.” Sam said, smirking as his brother loaded up the gun.   
  
“That’s right.” Dean said, nodding his head.   
  
A cellphone began ringing, you turned your head to see that Sam pulled out his phone and answered it. “This is Sam.” He said, stepping away from the two of you. “We’re near Zach’s place. We’re just checking some things out.” You made note that he was talking to Becky, but the conversation wasn’t going well. “What are you talking about?” He asked, his face scrunching up in confusion. “Why would you do that?” It was quiet for a few moments, you couldn’t help yourself but take a few feet forward so you could listen. “Beck—”   
  
“I don’t understand why you would lie to me about something like this.” You heard her shouting on the other line, she must have found out about the truth about Dean not being an actual cop. Busted.   
  
He sighed to himself. “We were just trying to help.”   
  
“Oh, trying to help?” Her voice was mocking his, she bitterly laughed. “Do you realize that was a sealed crime scene? This could have ruined Zach’s case.”   
  
“Beck, I’m sorry, but—” Sam tried to explain, but Becky cut him off once more.   
  
“No, goodbye Sam.”   
  
You heard the line end as you turned away to look at something else, trying to make it seem like you weren’t just eavesdropping on his conversation. Sam wasn’t paying much attention, he sighed to himself and stared off in the distance. Dean closed the trunk and came up towards his brother, you gave him a warning look to not start in, but he did it anyway.   
  
“I hate to say it, but that’s exactly what I’m talking about.” He said in a matter of fact voice. “You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you they’d be freaked. It just would be easier if—”   
  
“If I was like you.” Sam finished, looking at his brother.   
  
“Hey, man, like it or not, we’re not like other people.” Dean said. “But I’ll tell you one thing; about this whole gig,” He pulled out the gun from his pocket and handed it towards Sam. “It ain’t without perks.”   
  
Sam sighed, grabbing the gun and tucked it into the back of his pants without having anyone to notice. You put your hand out, waiting for Dean to hand you a gun. He just stared at you with confusion. You tilted your head towards the side and rolled your eyes.   
  
“Are you kidding me, right?” You asked “I’m coming along.”   
  
“No, you’re not.” Sam said, giving you a stern look. “It’s way too dangerous—”   
  
“Hold it up buddy, remember that time when I saved your ass?” You reminded him. “I shot a freaking ghost without hitting you. I’ve seen demons, spirits and wendigos up close. I think I can handle a shapeshifter.”   
  
Dean rolled his eyes, knowing that you were right. “Fine, you can come along.” He muttered, heading over towards the trunk and grabbing another gun. You couldn’t help yourself but smile on the inside. He came back a minute later, you reached to grab it, but he snatched it away. “Look, only use if you desperately need to. Also, make sure to stay in between me and Sam. Got it?” You rolled your eyes, nodding your head.   
  
You grabbed the gun when he handed it to you. You tucked the gun into the back of your jeans and followed as Dean lead the way back towards the sewers. You walked in the middle as you looked around, shining your flashlight in the hallways as you looked around at every inch of this place to see anymore of the skin that you found earlier.   
  
It felt like forever that you were down there; trying to get through small passages, that were easy for you since you were quite smaller than the boys, and stepping through puddles of water that drifted through pipes above your heads. When Sam took the lead as he pointed out his gun, your head to the right to see the piles of skin goop was lying there when your flashlight came across it.   
  
“I think we’re close to its lair.” You said, never taking your eyes off the gunk.   
  
“Why do you say that?” Sam asked.   
  
“Because there is another puke-inducing pile next to your face.” Dean commented, turning his head to see what you found.   
  
Sam turned his head and jumped away. “Oh, God.” He muttered to himself.   
  
“It looked like he’d lived here for a while.” Dean said, his flashlight pointing towards a pile of clothes that were tossed towards the side.   
  
“Who knows how many murders he’s gotten away with?” Sam wondered, you shrugged your shoulders as you turned your head around to look at Dean.   
  
But your attention was focused on a new figure that stood just inches from you and Dean, you gasped at what you saw again, the white eyes—the shapeshifter had decided to come home a bit early. Before anyone could react, the shapeshifter punched Dean causing him to fall down towards the ground. You quickly fell towards his aid, just in time. Sam whipped out his gun and fired to shots, but he wasn’t quick enough.   
  
You and Sam helped Dean up as he grunted, holding his left shoulder in pain, he must have landed on it when he took the fall. “Get the son of a bitch!” He yelled out. Sam ran on as you followed behind, you turned to look over your shoulder to see that Dean was trying to keep up as he grunted in pain at each move he tried to make.   
  
All of you headed up towards ground level, you made it out and began to frantically look around to see where the person could have gone. You tucked your gun into your back pocket, covering it with your shirt as you tried to act casual. Night had fallen, but people were still roaming around the place as they laughed and enjoyed themselves.   
  
“All right. Let’s split up.” Sam suggested, continuing to observe the neighborhood.   
  
“I’ll meet you and (Y/N) around on the other side.” Dean said, tapping Sam on the shoulder as he went to the right as you and Sam went towards the left.   
  
You and Sam nearly jogged through the city, his hand was tucked inside his pocket as you rested your hands close towards your backside. You observed each face to see if you could find the man. You wondered how long it could take to change shapes, maybe he was doing it right now. You sighed as both of you approached the end of the street where you would meet Dean, it felt like forever waiting, but you heard his voice.   
  
“Hey.” You turned around to see Dean heading towards the two of you. “Anything?”   
  
You shook your head. “No. He’s gone.” You admitted, looking around the place just one more time.   
  
“All right. Let’s head back towards the car.” Dean said.   
  
You and Sam started walking as Dean followed behind, taking his own pace. When you headed towards the car, everyone was gone, except the three of you. You walked in front of the boys as you itched to rest your aching legs. You had been itching to head back towards the motel and take a shower, being down in the sewers wasn’t much of a fun day for you.   
  
“You think he found another way underground?” Sam asked.   
  
“Probably.” Dean said. “You you got the keys?”   
  
Sam nodded his head, digging out the keys and faced his brother. Something to him didn’t seem quite right. “Hey, didn’t Dad once face a shapeshifter in San Antonio?” Sam asked out of the blue.   
  
“That was Austin.” Dean corrected him. “And it turned out not to be a shapeshifter. It was a thought form—a psychic projection. Remember?”   
  
Sam shook his head, pretending as if he was corrected. “Oh, right.” He said, throwing Dean the keys. “Here you go.”   
  
You noticed that Dean caught the keys with his left arm, you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. Wasn’t his arm hurt from the fall? You looked at Sam to see if he was thinking the same thing, but he seemed normal. You shrugged it off, you leaned yourself against the door as you watched Dean open up the trunk and examine his precious tools.   
  
Everything was fine until you heard the sound of the safety of the gun click and Sam pop out, pointing the weapon at Dean. “Don’t move!” He shouted. “What have you done with him?”   
  
“Sam! What the hell are you doing?” You yelled, stepping forward towards Dean.   
  
“Dude, chill. It’s me, alright?” Dean tried to explain, his hands up in the air.   
  
Sam shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Where’s my brother?”   
  
“You’re about to shoot him. Sam, calm down.” Dean said, anger rising in his voice.   
  
You slowly pieced together what you thought before. You looked at what you presumed was Dean, your eyebrows furrowed together. “You caught the keys with your left hand. I thought your shoulder hurt.” You remembered, giving him a confused look.   
  
“Yeah, it’s better. What do you want me to do, cry?” Dean asked, you could see that it was him, but he wasn’t acting like him. Your fingers slowly inched towards the gun that was still tucked in the back of your jeans.   
  
“You’re not my brother.” Sam stated in a dark tone.   
  
“Why don’t you pull the trigger than, hmm? Because you’re not sure. Dude, you know me.” Dean went on, still trying to keep up this act.   
  
“Don’t.” Sam warned, but it was too late.   
  
In the blink of an eye, Dean grabbed a tire iron and swung it at Sam’s head, all you heard was the sound of grunts and a body hitting the floor. Before you had a chance to grab your gun, Dean grabbed for your arm and roughly yanked it, causing you to drop the weapon as it clattered towards the concrete.   
  
“I don’t think so, sweetheart.” He said in a whisper. You weren’t fast enough to fight back, and before you could say anything, he swung the iron rod towards your head and bringing you into darkness that swallowed your vision whole.

\+ + +

Your eyelids slowly fluttered opened when you regained consciousness; everything around you seemed blurry and hazy. You groaned out in pain, feeling a headache form when you tried to look around further at your surroundings. Your head felt like someone hit you upside the head with a metal baseball bat.

  
You reached to cradle your throbbing head, but when you tried to move your arms, it took you another moment to realize that they were tied behind your back. You were pressed against a concrete wall as you tried to look around, all that you saw was a stretch of wall and different articles of clothing spread around you. You must be in the home of the shapeshifter.   
  
What happened before you passed out? All you could remember was Sam pointing a gun at Dean—but was it Dean? No. But it looked like Dean. It was the shapeshifter that you were hunting, taking the form of the oldest Winchester, And it seems that he was one step ahead of all of you. He had you somewhere, just like he wanted, so you couldn’t ruin his fun plans.   
  
You looked around for the boys, but it seemed that you were alone. Or at least you thought when a pair of footsteps echoed off the concrete walls.A familiar chuckle rang inside your ears.   
  
You turned your head upwards, eyes landing on Dean’s figure looming over you, a smirk spread across his lips. You noticed a bundle of rope was lying on his shoulder. Your jaw clenched as your fingers dug into the palm of your hands. “Look who’s finally awake.” He said, amusing himself with the death glares you were giving him.   
  
“Where the hell are they?” You asked between clenched teeth. “I swear, if you hurt them I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”   
  
“Don’t worry about them, you should worry be worried about what I have planned for you.” He threatened, kneeling down so he was staring at you straight in the eye. You nervously gulped and pressed your back against the concrete wall, trying your hardest to keep yourself calm. “Maybe I’ll make those idiots watch.” He muttered.   
  
“You’re a freak.” You spat out. “Do you get off on killing innocent people? Maybe it’s because you’re a lonely psychopath that crawls around the sewers like some kind of monster. You pray people with loved ones because it gives you a sense of power, right? Or maybe it’s because you’ve never been loved. And it kills you on the inside to see other people happy, so you need to take it away.”   
  
“You’ve got quite a mouth on you, (Y/N).” Your jaw clenched when he said your name. He smiled at you, knowing that you hated it. “You know, even with his thoughts, I can why he likes you so much. Feisty and smart.” He muttered to himself, titling his head towards the side as he examined your face for what felt like years. He smiled and shook his head. “I think I’ll have to save you for when I get back. You’re gonna be a lot of fun.”   
  
“Burn in Hell.” You hissed, watching as he stood back up and started to walk away from you, leaving you all alone.   
  
You sighed to yourself, trying to think of a way to escape. You couldn’t necessarily walk around since your feet were bound too. You shifted around a bit in your spot as you tried to raddled your brain.   
  
You were alone and God knows where the boys were. You wanted to break down and cry, but before you had a chance to feel sorry for yourself, a yelp escaped your mouth when you felt something sharp poke you in your thigh.   
  
Your eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. Trying your hardest, you wiggled out of the way to see what appeared to be a broken piece of glass. You didn’t even care where it came from, you just thanked your lucky stars and tried to get it before he came back. You gripped it in your fingers and sighed in relief, starting to cut at the ropes.   
  
It felt forever; just sawing the blunt end of the glass at the pieces of ropes. You were about to give up, until you felt the tension around your wrists loosen. You smiled to yourself as you quickly reached to untie your feet, trying your hardest to get the knot undone. You managed to get it free in just a minute and got yourself up from the ground, deciding to find the boys as quietly as you could without getting caught.   
  
You walked for a few minutes, trying your hardest to manage your way through the dimly lit halls. You heard the sounds of footsteps coming from the left, you quietly tipped your way until you peeked from the corner, your eyes landed on Sam. You sighed in relief when you saw him slowly starting to regain consciousness, he was at least somewhat safe. But your eyes trailed on the fake Dean that was roaming around the place, he turned towards your direction.   
  
You quickly backed away farther away from the wall, praying that he didn’t see you. Waiting a few seconds, your head peaked out slightly to see what was happening. You clenched your jaw when you saw the shapeshifter reach his hand up and smack Sam right across the face, the sound echoed off the walls. It took him a few seconds to recover, but his eyes kept on the man that looked like his brother as he roamed around the place, gathering materials.   
  
“Where is my brother?” Sam questioned. “Where is (Y/N)?”   
  
You watched as the man appeared back from a corner of the place, bringing out what looked to be a duffel bag. You didn’t even want to know what he had in there. He looked at Sam. “I wouldn’t worry about them.” Fake Dean said, crossing paths with Sam again. “I’d worry about you.”   
  
“Where are they?” Sam asked again, making eye contact with the man.   
  
Fake Dean turned around and looked at Sam for a few moments,a faint smirk spread across his lips before it vanished. “You don’t really want to know.” He admitted, turning around and walking towards something else across the room. “I swear, the more I learn about you and family…and I thought I came from a bad background.”   
  
“What do you mean, learn?” Sam asked.   
  
Fake Dean picked up a sharp looking knife, examining it for a few seconds before tossing it into his bag. You watched with curiosity as the shapeshifter clutched his head, as if he had a pounding headache. He grunted and sighed to himself, he looked at something for a few moments before pressing a fist towards his lips. A faint smile spread across his lips again, but it dropped when he turned his head to look at Sam.   
  
“He’s sure got issues with you.” The shapeshifter whispered, taking a step forward towards Sam. “You got to go to college. He had to stay at home.” He dropped the bag right at Sam’s side. “I mean I had to stay home—with Dad.” He corrected himself, as if he was becoming Dean. “You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?” He asked, as if he was expecting a real answer.   
  
“Where is my brother?” Sam asked slowly.   
  
“I’m your brother.” The shapeshifter said, leaning down so that he was resting his hands on the sides of the stool that Sam was sitting on. “See, deep down…I’m just jealous.” He admitted. “You gotta have friends. You could have a life.” He went on. “Me, I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s is going to leave me.”   
  
The shapeshifter stepped away from Sam, turning his back. Sam stared at the man. “What are you talking about?”   
  
“You left. Hell, I did everything that Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation. Nothing. Just—poof.” He stared at Sam for a few moments, his face was becoming written with anger. “Left me with your sorry ass.”   
  
The shapeshifter bent down, picking up what appeared to be a gray sheet. You watched as he headed over towards Sam, the sheet dragging on the dirty ground. You noticed that his tune had changed towards a sadistic undertone. “But still, this life, it’s not without its perks.” He laughed, staring down at Sam with a grin. “I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky.” Your jaw clenched when he said her name, you started to wonder what he had in mind. “You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance. Let’s see what happens.”   
  
You watched as he pulled the sheet over Sam’s head, blocking out his vision. The Shapeshifter picked up the bag, heading towards your direction. Your breathing stopped as you quietly backed farther until you couldn’t be seen in the darkness. His head peaked out, examining the hall that you were in. It felt like forever, but he finally backed away and disappeared. You counted until a hundred inside your head until you headed out.   
  
You walked over towards Sam and grabbed the ends of the sheets, ripping it off Sam as you dropped it towards the ground. You faintly smiled as he stared at you for a few seconds, confused to see you leaning over him.   
  
"Are you okay?” You asked, examining his face for any bruises. He nodded his head. “I’m gonna look for Dean.”   
  
You just searched around for a few moments as you found another gray sheet that was right across from Sam. Heading over, you grabbed it and ripped it off, to find the other Winchester hiding underneath it.   
  
“What the hell are you doing here?” The real Dean asked, you rolled your eyes.   
  
“I’m trying this new thing called ‘saving’ your asses.” You muttered, walking over towards his backside and trying to help untie him, but it seemed that he was already halfway done trying to cut the ropes from the metal bar he was tied towards. You crouched down and undid his feet. “It’s surprisingly nice to have the old you back.” You admitted, throwing the untied rope towards the side. “Is it normal for those creatures they’re shaping to be to start bringing up information like that?”   
  
“Wait, you mean he was able to access my thoughts and stuff?” Dean asked, rubbing his sore wrists.   
  
“Yeah, that’s the thing. He didn’t look like you, he was you.” You said, heading over towards Sam. “Or he was becoming you.”   
  
“What do you mean?” Dean asked, you shrugged your shoulders.   
  
“I don’t know,” Sam admitted as you tried to help him. “It was like he was downloading your thoughts and memories.”   
  
“You mean like the Vulcan mind-melt?” Asked Dean, you were lost at that reference. But it didn’t sound good.   
  
“Yeah, something like that.” Sam said. “I mean, maybe that’s why he didn’t just kill us.”   
  
“Maybe he needs to keep you two alive, a psychic connection.” You thought, Sam muttered a yeah as you got his hands finally undone.   
  
“Come on. We gotta go. He’s probably at Rebecca’s already.” Sam said, getting up from his seat and making a plan of getting out here.   
  
The three of you roamed around the place until you saw something that looked like a vent, you watched as Sam pushed the cover off of it to reveal a street just above you. You sighed in relief as he went out first, stepping towards the outside as he helped you out next. You dusted yourself off and watched as Dean managed to get out wit the help of Sam, still knowing that his shoulder was hurt.   
  
“Come on. We need to find a phone and call the police.” You said, stepping out of the way when both of the brothers emerged from below.   
  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.” Dean stopped you. “You’re going to put an APB on me.”   
  
“Sorry.” You said, shrugging your shoulders. “What else are we gonna do?”   
  
Dean sighed, looking around at the empty alley way and headed towards the left. He flustered for the two of you to follow him. “This way.” He said, running as you followed behind as you headed into the city.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Your eyes were fixated on one of the many TVs that were stacked on one another in the display window. You watched as a news reporter talked about a man hunt, knowing well enough it was Dean’s evil double. He attacked again.   
  
“An anonymous tip led police to home in the central west end, where a S.W.A.T. team discovered a local woman bound and gagged.” A police sketch of what was supposed to be Dean’s face flashed on the screens. “Her attacker, a white male approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home. Shots were fired. Police are saying that the suspect fled the scene on foot.”   
  
“It’s not even a good picture.” Dean complained, staring at his sketch.   
  
“You’re so narcissistic.” You rolled your eyes. “It’s good enough.”   
  
The three of you turned around from the store and headed down another alleyway. Dean managed to step into a puddle, getting his foot wet in the process. “Aw, come on!” He shouted. So he wasn’t having the best night ever, you had to cut him some slack.   
  
“They said attempted murder,” You said, turning your head to look at Dean, trying to lighten the mood, if you could. “At least we know—”   
  
“I didn’t kill her.” He said, pointing a finger towards his chest.   
  
“I’ll check with Rebecca in the morning to see if she’s alright.” Sam said.   
  
“First, I want to find that handsome devil and kick the holy crap out of him.” Dean threatened, his face was becoming written with anger.   
  
“We have no weapons. No silver bullets.” Sam reminded his older brother as all of you stopped walking.   
  
“The guy’s walking around with my face.” Dean stated. “It’s a little personal. I want to find him.”   
  
“Okay. Where do we find him?” You asked, looking around at the place.   
  
“We could start with the sewers.” Dean suggested, you let out a sharp sigh.   
  
“We have no weapons.” Sam reminded him. “He stole our guns. We need more.”   
  
You wondered for a few seconds. “What about the car?”   
  
“I’m betting he drove over to Rebecca’s.” Dean said, looking at the two of you.   
  
“The news did say he fled on foot. I bet it’s still parked there.” You said, it was a possibility, you just hoped the cops didn’t impound it for evidence.   
  
Dean clenched his fists as he turned away. “Oh, the thought of him driving my car.” He said between clenched teeth.   
  
“Oh, come on, you big baby.” You said, walking again as the two of the followed behind.   
  
“It’s killing me.” Dean went on, you rolled your eyes.   
  
“Let it go.” You said, dropping the conversation.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The three of you ran towards the neighborhood, you watched as you saw the beloved Impala slowly come into your view as all of you stopped running. Dean chuckled to himself as he walked faster. “Ah, there she is.” He said, grinning. He sighed to himself. “Finally. Something went right.”   
  
All of you headed towards the car, thinking that tonight could possibly end on a good note. But when you had just a few feet more to go, the sound of sirens wailed. You watched as a cop car appeared out of nowhere. You groaned to yourself, turning around and heading over towards the direction that you came here. But another cop car drove up, blocking all of you from escaping.   
  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Dean muttered, knowing the three of you were caught. He started running, expecting the two of you to follow. He stopped and looked at you when he got towards a fence.   
  
“You go. We’ll hold them off.” You said, looking at him.   
  
“They’ll catch you.” He warned, you rolled your eyes.   
  
“They can’t hold us! Just go! And stay out of sight.” Sam shouted, looking around as the police were slowly finding your bodies in the dark. “Meet us at Rebecca’s.”   
  
You watched as Dean hopped on the fence and straddled it. “And Dean, stay out of the sewers alone!” You warned him, he didn’t say anything, he just jumped on the other side, disappearing. “I mean it!”   
  
He said something, but your attention was paid on the two officers that were slowly approaching you and Sam with guns pointed on you. “Don’t move!” The cop shouted. “Put your hands where I can see them.”   
  
You raised your hands above your head and sighed. This wasn’t your first time being arrested, and it probably won’t be your last.

\+ + +

The next afternoon you sat on the couch at Becky’s with Sam on your left. Both of you decided it was time to let his friend know what was really going on. At first she was a bit hesitant to hear the truth, knowing that Sam had lied to her in the past. But she finally let her guard down when the subject of her brother was brought up. You tried your hardest to explain about the supernatural and shape shifters in the hour that you had been there. You told her how it took the form of her brother; he killed Emily and managing to make it look like Zach.   
  
“So, say this shapeshifter is real.” Becky said from the refrigerator, grabbing two glass bottles of beers. She stood there for a few moments, trying to wrap her mind around the information you had been feeding her. “By the way, you know, you’re crazy.” She said with a slight smirk, heading over towards the two of you.   
  
She handed Sam another beer as she passed him another one. “Thanks.” He said, resting the bottle on his knee. You politely smiled when she handed you a new one, letting it linger in your eye sight. “No thanks, I think I’m good.” You said, shaking your head. She gave you a look, smiling as you sighed to yourself. You decided that another one really couldn’t hurt. You reached for it, letting her take your empty glass.   
  
“But, um, say it is real. How do you stop it?” She asked, standing between the both of you with your backs turned to her.   
  
“Silver bullet the heart.” You explained, reaching the bottle up to take another sip.   
  
She chuckled to herself, her lips stretching into a frown. “You are crazy.” She muttered to herself.   
  
Before you had a chance to have the new bottle reach your lips, Becky swung the empty bottles at the back of your skull, letting the glass break and watched as you and Sam fall into unconsciousness again. She didn’t allow you to see that she wasn’t Becky. Her eyes flashed white for a few moments before turning into someone very familiar for the both of you.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You hissed slightly in pain when you watched the shapeshifter, now looking like Dean, tied the rope around your wrists. You gave him a glare when he slightly chuckled to himself, letting your hands drop towards your lap. He stood back up and headed over towards the kitchen, stepping on scattered clothes and broken glass.   
  
“What are you gonna do to us?” You couldn’t help yourself but ask, your eyes never leaving his sight.   
  
He turned around and looked at the two of you. “I’m not gonna do anything.” He said, stepping into the kitchen and opening up a drawer to take a peek inside. “Dean will, though.” He headed over towards another set of drawers, leaning down slightly so he could further inspect the contents.   
  
“They’ll never catch him.” Sam said, shaking his head.   
  
“Oh, doesn’t matter.” Fake Dean closed the drawer and looked at the two of you, letting his eyes flash a white as he smirked to himself. “Murder in the first of his brother and best friend. He’ll be hunted for the rest of his life.”   
  
You watched as he headed over towards the knives that were kept out in the open and took a peek at one. He pulled out the biggest one and examined it for a few moments, as if he was deeming it good enough for what he was about to do. He wrapped his fingers around the handle and walked over towards his duffel bag that was sitting on the pool table. He placed it on top of the rope that he had used to tie you and Sam up. You swallowed as he turned around to stare at you, he grinned and slowly walked over, his boots stomping on the wooden floor.   
  
He crouched down and grabbed your bound wrists with just one hand. “Ladies first.” He said, grinning at the glares you were giving him. He dragged your body as if you were nothing, ignoring the kicks and twists you tried to get out of his grip. He dropped you towards the middle of the floor, leaving you to rest on your backside as you watched him head over towards the bar.   
  
“I must say,” The shape shifter said, grabbing a bottle of alcohol while turning to look at the two of you over his shoulder. “I will be sorry to lose this skin. Your brother’s got a lot of good qualities. You two should appreciate him more than you do.” He turned around and walked over towards the duffel bag, he glanced down at you and lifted up his glass. “Cheers.” He joked, taking a sip before setting it down on the pool table.   
  
He placed something inside the bag before letting his finger loom over the materials for a few moments. He reached down and grabbed the knife that was sitting on top of the bag, your eyes watched as the blade glistened in the florescent lights as Fake Dean examined it for a few moments. He turned to look at you, your eyes trailed on the knife as he slammed it down into the wood. You clenched your jaw as he just gave you a twisted grin before walking over to somewhere else.   
  
You decided to make a move when you saw that Sam had somehow undid his ties while the shape shifter wasn’t looking. Both of you looked at one another, nodding your heads. You kicked both of your legs at the shapeshifter, hard enough to watch him skid a few feet across the room. Sam threw the ropes towards the ground and lunged at the man, tackling him down as both of them wrestled for power to pin the other one down. You scattered towards your feet and headed towards the knife, you dragged the rope up and down on the blade until your binds were cut.   
  
You ripped the knife out and wrapped your fingers around the edge tightly when you saw the shape shifter slam Sam down on the ground. It was rough enough to keep him down for a few moments to regain his breathing. You watched as he stood up and focused his attention on you, a small smile spread across his lips. “Little (Y/N) wants to play with the big kids. This is gonna be fun.” He taunted, chuckling to himself as he started taking small steps towards you.   
  
You gritted your teeth out in anger, you lunged straight at him. You swung the knife up in the air and thrusted it down, aiming at his chest. But before you had the chance to come close, his hand shot up and grabbed your wrist, roughly squeezing it. You gasped in pain as you heard the metal dropped towards the ground. But you didn’t let that stop you from trying a different method. You punched him straight in the jaw. He let go of your wrist and stumbled back a few inches. You grabbed his jacket and somehow threw him on the ground when he wasn’t paying attention.   
  
Adrenaline pumped through your body as you walked over towards him, you lifted up a leg and kicked him straight in the stomach twice with all the force you could muster up. You managed to throw in another kick towards the top of his chin before he grabbed your ankle and pulled your feet from right underneath you.   
  
Your body fell towards the ground as you landed on your backside. You felt the air from your lungs ripped out of your body from the sudden movement. You watched as the shape shifter got on both of his feet and headed towards you with a threatening glare written on his face. He leaned down and grabbed you by the collar of your shirt with one hand. The other one was clenched in a tight fist, looming in the air for a few seconds before he threw it down, aiming for your face.   
  
You closed your eyes and waited for the pain that was about to come, but it never did. You opened them to see that Sam had headed over just in time. He grabbed the shapeshifter by his wrist and pulled him off of you. You could only watch as both boys picked up right where they left off.   
  
They were throwing punches left and right, but both of them kept dodging them. You winced slightly when you saw Dean grab Sam’s wrist and pin it towards his backside, Sam let out a grunt of pain. But in a blink of an eye, the men had switched places. Sam had Fake Dean in his grip, his wrist bent so it was pinned against his backside, but Dean didn’t seem phased.   
  
“Not bad, little brother.” The shape shifter taunted.   
  
“You’re not him.” Sam grunted out in anger.   
  
Fake Dean used the opportunity for his own advantage when he got Sam distracted. He shoved Sam off of him and punched him straight in the jaw, hard enough for Sam to go flying towards the couch. Sam tried to steady himself as the shape shifter let in a breath. Both of the boys lunged at one another again until Sam threw a punch and the man, he stumbled into the pool table. He glared at Sam who was just standing over him with his fists at his face, waiting for the fight to continue.   
  
The shape shifter lunged himself off the table and tried to hit him again, but Sam blocked it and threw in another punch. Everything looked like it was going to be in Sam’s favor, but in a blink of an eye, things changed. Fake Dean grabbed Sam by the back of his neck and punched him straight in the jaw again. You watched as the man kneed Sam in the groin before kicking him in stomach. Sam’s body fell backwards into the bookcase. You called out his name in fear as everything on the shelf fell off as he dropped towards his knees in pain.   
  
“Even when we were kids, I always kicked your ass.” Fake Dean said, watching as Sam keeled over the ground in pain for a few moments.   
  
Sam managed to build up some energy to crawl away, he leaned his body against the pool table and stood up, not seeing that the shape shifter reached over for a pool stick and headed over towards him. When Sam got on his feet, Fake Dean swatted the stick at him. Sam managed to duck from the attack. But the shape shifter did it again, only managing to hit the lights above them as sparks flew from the light bulb that became broken.   
  
Everything went so quickly after that. You watched as the boys began to fight again, throwing punches and blocking them. You noticed that Sam was trying his hardest to keep himself focused, but the shape shifter took notice, a grin placed on his lips. He threw another punch towards Sam, making it the one that caught the youngest Winchester off guard. He lunged himself at the boy—wrapping his arms around his waist and throwing themselves over the couch and falling on the coffee table. Breaking wood filled your eardrums as you began hearing more punches.   
  
You scurried towards your feet, trying to rack your brain of what to do to get this to stop. Your eyes dropped towards a black skillet frying pan that was peeking out of the sink. You ran towards it and wrapped the heavy metal around your fingers and stalked over towards the shapeshifter, your jaw clenching when you saw him straddling Sam’s waist, he was now choking him towards the point where Sam wasn’t even fighting back anymore.   
  
With all your might, you swung the skillet pan at the back of the shapeshifters head, you let out a breath from the sudden effort as you watched his body dropped towards the ground like a sack of potatoes. You dropped the metal towards the ground and leaned over, ready to turn his body around and let all of your anger out on his face. But before you had the chance to touch his shirt, he twisted his body around and grabbed your wrist, flinging you on the ground next to him.   
  
You groaned in pain when you felt his heavy body straddle you at the waist. He grabbed your wrists and pinned them both at their sides. “Little (Y/N). She thinks she’s so tough.” He hissed, his face was nearly inches from yours. “Constantly trying to prove herself like she’s her Mommy towards Dean and Sam.” You clenched your jaw as you tried to fight him off, but he was stronger than you. He chuckled at your attempts. “I can’t wait to see his face when you’re dead.”   
  
You let out a final gasp of air when you felt his hands wrap around your throat, blocking out any more air that you desperately needed to stay alive. You tried to get him to stop as your arms reached out to swat his hands away, but he didn’t seem fazed. He chuckled to himself as you blinked rapidly. You could feel yourself getting lightheaded as darkness was clouding your eyesight.   
  
When you felt yourself on the brink of unconsciousness again, that’s when it stopped. You felt his weight shift off of you when you heard a very familiar voice shout something. The shape shifter turned around to see that it was the real Dean, and he was pointing a gun at him. The man scrambled towards his feet as he watched Dean slowly inch closer towards his double.   
  
You coughed and blinked a few times, you saw that Sam was awake as he weakly turned towards his side. Your eyes jumped upwards when you heard a shot ring in your ears. You watched as the shape shifter stumbled backwards, but he was slammed backwards from force of the next bullet that went straight towards his heart, he dropped towards the ground with no movement left in him.   
  
Becky came running into the room when she heard the noises, you watched as she darted towards Sam, wrapping her arms around his neck. Dean dropped the gun towards his side as he headed over towards you, kneeling down so he could take a look at you. His face was written with protectiveness as he stared at your physical state.   
  
“Are you okay?” He whispered, eyes trailing on the bruises that were forming around your neck. You nodded your head as you tried to swallow, but even that hurt. “I’ll be right back, I just to get something that son of a bitch took from me.”   
  
You watched as he stood up and headed over towards the shapeshifter. He looked at the man that looked at him for a few moments before bending down and ripping off the necklace that he always wore. You didn’t know much about it, but you remembered when Dean told you it was a gift that Sam gave him when he was much younger. You sighed in relief as you dropped your head towards the carpet. Everything was okay again.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Dean placed a map of the country on the hood of the Impala, you stood by his side as he leaned over and began to examine it. You heard the front door open as your head turned to see Sam and Becky heading out towards the front porch to say a final goodbye. Dean grabbed the map and turned around, trying not to focus too much on what his little brother was saying. You couldn’t help yourself but listen in on what they were saying as your eyes fixated on the map.   
  
“So, this is what you do?” Becky asked with astonishment lined in her voice. “You, your brother and your best friend—you hunt down these kinds of things?”   
  
Sam chuckled to himself. “Yeah, pretty much.”   
  
“I can’t believe it.” She admitted, resting her hands in her back pockets. “I mean, I saw it with my own eyes, and…” She shook her head, laughing slightly. “I mean, does everybody at school—Nobody knows that you do this?”   
  
Sam smiled, looking at something before making eye contact with Becky again. “No.” He simply said, shrugging his shoulders.   
  
“Did Jessica know?” Becky quietly asked.   
  
“No, she didn’t.” Sam admitted, letting a small moment of silence fall in between them.   
  
Becky looked at the ground for a few moments before looking at Sam, slightly tilting her head. “It must be lonely.”   
  
Sam glanced and his brother and you for a few seconds, you smiled slightly at him. “Oh, no. No, it’s not so bad.” He said, looking back at Becky, trying to hide a smile that was itching to spread across his own lips. “Anyway, what can you do? It’s my family.”   
  
Becky chuckled, dropping her hands towards her side. “Well, you know, Zach and me and everybody at school, we really miss you.” She pulled Sam into a tight hug.   
  
Sam was quiet for a few moments. “Yeah. Me too.”   
  
Both of them broke away after a few more seconds as she gave him a small smile. “Well, will you call me sometime?” She asked, taking a step away.   
  
Sam sheepishly smiled. “It might not be for a little while.” He admitted. She smiled and nodded. She turned around and waved at you and Dean. Both of you returned the gesture, watching as she headed back inside and shut the door behind her. Sam sighed to himself as he headed back on over towards the car.   
  
Dean got off the hood and headed towards the driver’s seat. “So what about your friend Zach?” He asked, reaching inside his jacket pocket for the keys.   
  
“The cops are blaming this Dean Winchester guy for Emily’s murder.” Sam explained, stopping at the front of the car. “Found the murder weapon in the guy’s lair, Zach’s clothes stained with her blood. Now, they’re thinking maybe their surveillance tape was tampered with. Yeah, Becca says that Zach will be released soon.”   
  
You couldn’t help yourself but chuckle at this outcome, opening the backseat door and sliding yourself in. It wasn’t one that you were expecting, but at least Zach was free and the shape shifter was dead.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The car ride was quiet for the most part, you watched as the scenery passed you by. Dean glanced over at the two of you for a few moments before speaking up. “Sorry, guys.” He said out of the blue.   
  
Sam looked over at his brother with slight confusion. “About what?”   
  
“I really wished that things could be different, you know?” Dean admitted, looking at his brother. “I wish you could just be Joe college. And (Y/N) as a little homemaker.” You scoffed and kicked the back of his seat, trying your hardest not to laugh at the thought of you being a housewife.   
  
“Aw, it’s okay.” Sam said, smiling slightly. “You know, truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in.”   
  
“Well, that’s because you’re a freak.” You said, he glanced over at you and smiled, rolling his eyes.   
  
“Yeah. Thanks.” He said, laughing at your comment.   
  
“I’m a freak too, we all are.” You admitted, shrugging your shoulders. “I’m right there with the both of you all the way. Aren’t we, Dean?” You asked, he nodded his head, concentrating on the road.   
  
“Yeah, I know it.” Sam said, giving you a weak smile, turning his head back towards the front of the car.   
  
It was silent for a few moments before Dean spoke up. “You know, I gotta say, I’m sorry I’m gonna miss it.”   
  
“Miss what?” You asked.   
  
He turned his head to look at you, a smile spread across his lips. “How many chances am I gonna have to see my own funeral?” He said, trying to take glances at the road. You and Sam laughed, shaking your heads at that boy. You knew there was always going to be only one Dean and Sam Winchester in your life. You were glad you were stuck with them, and only them. 


	7. Hookman.

You sat outside of a local cafe enjoying the sunshine and the quiet chatter that was around you. As you sipped your favorite beverage, you turned your head to see that Sam was wrapping up another conversation with the police. Dean sat on the laptop typing and clicking away at some site. It felt so strange to see them doing the opposite of things. Normally Sam was glued towards his laptop and Dean was on top of hunting down the next possible place of where their father was.   
  
“Your half-cafe venti vanilla latte is getting cold over here, Francis.” Dean said, glancing up from the screen as Sam came walking over back towards the table. You rolled your eyes and dug your teeth into your breakfast, refraining yourself from making a comment you would probably regret from the lack of caffeine in your system.   
  
“Shut up.” Sam muttered, sitting back in his seat next to Dean.   
  
“So, anything?” You asked with a mouth full of food.   
  
He gave you a grossed out look while putting his card back into his jacket pocket. “I had them check the FBI’s missing-persons databank. No ‘John Does’ fitting that description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations.”   
  
“I’m telling you, I don’t think Dad wants to be found.” Dean said, staring at his little brother. He changed the subject when he turned the laptop towards him. “Check this out. News Item out of Plains Courier Ankeny, Iowa. It’s about a hundred miles from here.”   
  
You got up from your seat and stood over Sam so you could look at the news article. “'Mutilated body was found near the victim’s car parked on nine mile road.'” Sam repeated of what he saw in the article, he looked at his brother to see what was so special.   
  
Dean picked up his coffee cup and gestured a finger towards the screen. ”Keep reading.”   
  
“'Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of the killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible.'”   
  
“Could be something interesting.” You said, continuing to read the article a bit more.   
  
“It could be nothing.” Sam remarked. “One eyewitness who didn’t see anything doesn’t mean it’s the invisible man.”   
  
“But what is it is?” Dean asked. “Dad would check it out.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
The three of you headed towards the location of where the victim lived. You sat in the backseat, as per usual, staring out the window as you watched Dean pull the car towards the sidewalk and park next to a house. You noticed a group of boys that had to be just a few years or so younger than you roaming around the place or standing over some car and working on the engine with the hood popped up. You stepped outside and lightly tapped Dean on the shoulder.   
  
“Why are we here?” You asked, not taking your eyes off the male populated place. You felt out of sorts being here, you knew it was a frat house, but you didn’t exactly think they would allow you inside.   
  
“Victim lived here.” Dean simply explained.   
  
You rolled your eyes. “I know that. What am I gonna do? It’s not like they’re going to let me inside, since you know I’m kind of a…girl.”   
  
“Just shut up and follow my lead.” Dean muttered to you before flashing a smile at the group of boys that were now staring at you, still leaning on their car. “Nice wheels.” They just turned and flashed Dean a blank expression. “We’re your fraternity brothers from Ohio.” He gestured towards himself and Sam. “This is our little sister, she couldn’t stand the idea of us leaving her alone.” Dean joked, turning around to give your cheek a playful squeeze. You forced a small smile, keeping the urge from punching him. “We’re new in town—transfers. We’re looking for a place to stay.”   
  
It seemed to work, you followed behind the brothers as you walked inside the frat house and made it up to the second level to see where the victim lived. You walked inside, your eyebrows furrowing together at the sight that you saw. A shirtless boy stood in front of a full length mirror; in one hand he had a bucket of purple paint and in the other was a paint brush that he used to cover his body with the substance. He was like a giant grape. You softly knocked on the door and smiled at him.   
  
“Who are you?” The boy asked, turning around and stopping what he was doing to look at the three of you.   
  
“We’re your new roommates.” Dean said, observing the boy while stepping inside.   
  
“Do me a favor? Get my back.” He asked, dipping the brush back into the paint and continuing to fill in the spots he’d missed on his stomach. “Big game today.”   
  
Dean didn’t take his eyes off the boy, he pointed a finger over his shoulder. “She’s the artist.” He lied, walking over towards a seat. “The things she can do with a brush…” He said, looking at you while plopping down into a seat next to the window. You politely smiled as you grabbed the brush from the boy’s hand as you started to lightly paint on his skin. Dean grabbed a magazine and flipped it over, observing it. “So…Murph, is it true?” Dean asked.   
  
“What?”   
  
“We heard one of the guys here got killed last week.” Dean said nonchalantly, flipping to another page as Murph just muttered a yeah.   
  
“What happened?” Sam asked, stepping next to you as he pointed at something. “Missed a spot.” You gave him an annoyed glare and went over it with the paint brush to conceal any skin that was showing.   
  
“They’re saying some psycho with a knife, maybe a drifter passing through.” Murph explained, shaking his head. “Rich was a good guy.”   
  
“Rich was with somebody?” Sam asked.   
  
“Not just somebody—Lori Sorenson.” Murph looked at Sam like it was supposed to mean something. Sam just shrugged his shoulders and gave him a curious look.   
  
“Who’s Lori Sorenson?” Dean asked, leaning over his chair to inspect your work. He pointed a finger at a patch of skin. “You missed a spot down on the back.” You just glared at him, your tongue poking towards your cheek as you refrained from saying anything. He adjusted himself in his seat, flashing you an innocent smile before paying attention to the boy in front of you.   
  
“Lori’s a freshman. She’s a local. Super hot.” Murph said, you rolled your eyes. “And get this—she’s a reverend’s daughter.”   
  
Dean closed the magazine shut and looked at Murph, a smirk spreading across his lips as he leaned in closer. “You wouldn’t happen to know which church, would you?”   
  
\+ + +   
  
You and the boys stepped inside the church as you heard the reverend speaking, you stepped in right after Dean and soon Sam followed behind you. You flinched slightly when you heard the front door slam shut roughly behind you as the sound echoed off the quiet walls. You watched as the room became silent as a few pair of eyes jumped on you for interrupting the sermon. You smiled and yanked the boys’ by their jacket sleeves and walked to sit down in the last aisle.   
  
“The loss of a young person is particularly tragic. A life unlived is the saddest of passing. “As the reverend continued talking, you turned your head to see a young female was still looking at the three of you. Sam slightly smiled as he watched the girl turn away and face forward once more. “So, please, let us pray for peace, for guidance, and for the power to protect our children.”   
  
You watched as the room fell into a trance of letting their heads fall towards their lap and take a moment of silence. You put your head down and looked towards the side, you noticed that Sam was doing it too, but not Dean. You jabbed him with your shoulder and nodded for him to do the same. He was a bit hesitant at first, but he followed behind soon after.   
  
Soon after the time ended, everyone followed in a civil order as they exited the church. You and the boys stepped outside and waited until you could find Lori. You watched two girls exit as they mumbled something about plans, but the one in the green sweater was a bit hesitant, making up an excuse. You walked up to her after she said goodbye to her friend, the boys following behind.   
  
“Are you Lori?” You asked from behind. She turned around and made eye contact with you, she smiled and nodded her head. “My name is (Y/N). This is Sam and Dean…my little and older brothers.” It felt weird saying that as you pointed towards the boys. Dean waving at her while Sam smiled. “They just transferred to the University. I’m just keeping an eye on them.”   
  
She nodded her head again. “I saw you inside.”   
  
“We don’t want to bother you. But we heard about what happened.” Sam explained, moving his hands around as he talked. “We just wanted to say how sorry we were.” Dean added.   
  
“I kind of know what you’re going through.” Sam confessed with a bashful smile. “I—I saw someone get hurt once. It’s something you don’t forget.”   
  
Lori nodded, she was quiet for a few moments as her head turned around to see that her father had rested a hand on her shoulder. He looked at the four of you and smiled. “Dad, this is Sam and Dean. They’re new students.” She pointed towards the brothers. “And this is (Y/N).” You smiled at the reverend.   
  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.” Dean flashed a smile as he put out his hand for the reverend to shake. “I must say that was an inspiring sermon.”   
  
“Thank you very much.” The reverend said while resting his hands back down. “It’s so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord’s message.”   
  
Dean chuckled as the three of you looked at one another. You smiled at the reverend. “Listen we’re new in town, actually.” You explained, walking so that you and Dean could talk to the reverend. You glanced at Sam, knowing that he was going to talk to Lori alone. As you walked further away into the distance, you glanced over your shoulder and looked at Sam before smiling at the reverend once more.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“So you believe her?” Dean asked, walking down the aisle of books. You and Sam followed behind as you saw people all around you peaking at books or reading them.   
  
“I do.” Sam confessed.   
  
“I think she’s hot, too.” You rolled your eyes at Dean’s remark, shoving for him to faster.   
  
“No, man, there’s something in her eyes. And listen to this.” Sam stopped when Dean turned to a right and went down an aisle. “She heard scratching on the roof and found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car.”   
  
Dean stopped and looked at his brother. “Bloody body suspended? That sounds like—”   
  
“The Hook Man legend?” You asked in disbelief. You shook your head. “That’s one of the most famous urban legends. I don’t think you boys are dealing with the Hook Man.”   
  
“Come on, (Y/N).” Sam said, looking at you. “Every urban legend has a source, a place where it all began.” You sighed to yourself and shrugged your shoulders, it was a possibility.   
  
“What about the scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?” Dean questioned.   
  
“Maybe the Hook Man isn’t a man at all. What if it’s some kind of spirit?” Sam theorized.   
  
All three of you grabbed a table after talking to a librarian about their public records. You watched as woman headed over with a large box and smiled at three of you, placing it down on the table. “Here you go.” She said in a cheery voice, pushing it to you. “Arrest records going back to 1851.”She turned around and grabbed another box, your smile faltered at how much material you were going to have to sort through.   
  
You coughed when Dean decided it would be a smart idea to blow off some of the dust that had collected on top of the box. He looked up at the librarian and smiled. “Thanks.” He said, watching as she smiled once more before walking back to her desk, leaving the three of you alone. “This is how you spent four good years of your life, huh?” Dean remarked to Sam, blowing off more dust before opening the lid to the old documents.   
  
“Welcome to higher education.” Sam said, opening up his lid and beginning to sort through the papers.   
  
Time slowly slipped by for the three of you as you indulged yourself in the papers. You stood at a row of books, observing papers as the boys were at the table. Dean was trying to keep his eyes open as Sam had nose buried in a stack of records he’d been observing for a while now. Dean threw a file towards the table and sighed to himself.   
  
“Hey, check this out.” You said, watching as both boys got up from their seats to see what you had found. “1862—A preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. He was so angry over the red-light district in town that one night he killed thirteen prostitutes.” You pointed towards another piece of paper that you had found, reading the information. “'Some of the deceased were found in their beds, sheets soaked with blood, other suspended upside down from limbs of trees as a warning against the sins of the flesh.'”   
  
Dean pulled out another piece of paper that was tucked underneath another one. Your eyes landed on what was a drawing of a rather interesting prosthetic arm. “Get this—the murder weapon? Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident, had it replaced with a silver hook.”   
  
Sam leaned down, scoffing at the location. He looked up at the two of you and nodded down. “Look where all this happened.”   
  
Dean looked down. “Nine mile road.”   
  
“Same place where the frat boy was killed.” Sam said.   
  
You looked down at the paper and glanced up at Sam, smiling. “Nice job, Dr. Venkman. Let’s check it out.” Sam scoffed, hiding a smile as he closed the case files and packed up the files.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Darkness had fallen when the three of you pulled up the Nine Mile Road, which was creepy as it sounded. You stepped outside of the car as you observed the quiet forest scenery around you. You walked towards the trunk as Dean opened it up, looking around before giving Sam a shotgun.   
  
“Here you go.” Dean said, still leaning down to grab something.   
  
“If it is a spirit, buckshot won’t do much good.” Sam commented, lifting up the gun so he could inspect it a bit further.   
  
“Yeah, rock salt.” Dean stood up straight and gave Sam a few bullets so he could load them into the gun.   
  
You crossed your arms over your chest. “Hmm. Salt being a spirit deterrent. Smart.”   
  
Dean grabbed some rope and handed you a flashlight for safety, even though the moonlight allowed you to see mostly clear.“Yeah.” He closed the trunk and began walking “It won’t kill 'em. But it’ll slow 'em down.   
  
Sam cocked the gun back and began to follow behind his brother. “That’s pretty good. You and Dad think of this?”   
  
“I told you, you don’t have to be a college graduate to be a genius.” Dean remarked, you scoffed and followed behind the two boys. Suddenly you heard the sound of branches breaking. Sam brought the gun up and began to survey the place. “Over there,over there.” Dean whispered, subtly pointing towards across the spot where all of you were standing.   
  
All of you stood in perfect silence for a few moments. Sam stood with his finger on the trigger as he waited for the thing that was crawling around in the bushes to step forward. All of you were on guard to see what would pop out. But when you saw another gun and someone shouting orders, it wasn’t what you expected.   
  
“Put the gun down! Now!” An officer shouted, walking further into the opening. You jumped as you raised your hands and slowly dropped towards your knees. “Hands behind your head!”   
  
“Wait, wait, wait! Okay, okay.” Dean panicked, dropping the rope towards the ground and did what he was told, following you and Sam.   
  
“Get down on your knees! Come on, do it! On your knees.” The officer commanded. All three of you did what you were told, know kneeling on the ground with your hands above your head and resting on the back of your skull. “Get down on your bellies. Come on, do it.”   
  
You sighed to yourself as you laid down on the ground as you were told, hating the fact that you were getting a brand new top all messed up from the dirt that was underneath you. “He had the gun.” Dean muttered, quickly giving a dirty look at his brother. You rolled your eyes. Boys.

\+ + +

 You stepped outside of the police station into the morning daylight, a glare was spread across your face as you followed behind Dean, who was in a good mood for the sweet talk he did to the officer in there. Of course, it involved you and Sam made out to look like fools and what not, but at least you were out of jail and on towards solving the new case.  
  
“Saved your asses.” Dean reminded you two again, turning to look over his shoulder as you and Sam caught up to walk with him down the street.  
  
“You talked the sheriff down into a fine, dude.” You said, rolling your eyes.  
  
“I’m Matlock.” Dean ignored your tone, throwing his hands up in the air. You shoved him playfully and scoffed at how arrogant he was acting.  
  
“But, how?” Sam questioned, walking behind the two of you.  
  
“Told him you two were a dumb ass pledges and that I was hazing you.” Dean explained, knowing that it would make for a good cover.  
  
“But, what about the gun, Mr. Hotshot?” You asked with an eyebrow arched up.  
  
“I said that you guys were hunting ghosts and the spirits were repelled by rock salt.” Dean said in a sarcastic tone. “You know, typical Hell Week prank.”  
  
“And believed you?” Your voice was lined with shock. It was the truth, but boy, normal people were so easy to fool when it came towards the supernatural when they had nothing to do with it.  
  
“Well, he looks like a dumb-ass pledge, doesn’t he?” Dean asked in a sarcastic tone, knowing that he was talking about Sam. You rolled your eyes, trying your hardest not to laugh when the three of you headed back towards the car.  
  
As you wrapped your fingers around the door handle, your focus was ripped away when you looked up to see several police officers rushing out of the building. You watched as they all jumped into their cop cars and turned on their sirens, wailing as the tires screeched against the pavement. Seconds later they were gone. You looked at one another with curiosity. Something big happened, and you sure weren’t going to miss out.  
  
\+ + +  
  
All of you followed the police towards a sorority home. You looked out your window to see a handful of officers walking around or stepping inside the home. As you observed the place, your eyes landed on a very familiar face that was sitting in the back of an ambulance—Lori. She caught the three of you, staring at the three of you until Dean a little bit faster and off the street.  
  
Dean pulled up behind the house and cut the engine after he parked next to the sidewalk, right behind a fire hydrant. You stepped outside the car and quietly tried to close your side of the door. You and Sam stood watch, scoping the place for a few seconds while Dean headed up towards the small hill that the house stood upon. You watched from the corner of your eye as he was approaching closer, you turned around and followed behind.  
  
You squeezed behind a line of bushes and past a garage, sneaking in the back of the line behind Dean and Sam. “Why would the Hookman have come here?” Sam whispered. “This is a long way from nine mile road.”  
  
“Maybe he’s not haunting the scene of his crime. Maybe it’s about something else.” Dean theorized.  
  
Your eyes landed on two girls dressed in pajamas that stepped outside to see what was going on. All of you jumped backwards towards the house and tried to keep quiet from anyone seeing you. Curiously, you looked up to see a window above you. You tapped Sam on the shoulder, pointing upwards. He nodded his head, getting what you were thinking.  
  
“Dude, sorority girls. Think we’ll see a naked pillow fight?” Dean said, smirking to himself at what he saw, laughing. But neither of you were paying attention. He turned around to only see his brother’s foot in his face. He rolled his eyes, grabbing Sam’s foot so he could give him a boost.  
  
You had already climbed up towards the top, looking down at the crowd below when you saw Sam and Dean make it towards the top of the small balcony. Sam walked over towards the small window and quietly opened it, slipping himself front first inside. Dean looked around before following his little brother, but he had a bit more trouble. You stood outside and watched as the two brothers fight.  
  
“Try and be quiet, will you?” Sam hissed.  
  
“Me be quiet? You be quiet.” Dean argued.  
  
You rolled your eyes and sighed to yourself, slipping yourself inside the window and managing to get in there without making much noise. You quietly closed the window behind you and walked up towards the boys. Looking through the crack in the closet, you saw an officer walk around the bedroom before heading out into the hall. Sam pushed the door open, letting it creak before hiding once more just in case the officer heard the noise. But when all of you peaked out, the officer was already downstairs without the thought of looking back.  
  
You stepped out into the bedroom and glanced around; there was a bed that was tapped off. The covers were soaked in blood as yellow markings were put on certain places. But your eyes glanced up towards the wall that was right across from the bed. You saw something was carved into the wall, it looked like someone did it with a sharp tool as blood oozed from the markings.  
  
“'Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light?’ That’s right out of the legend.” Sam said, reading what was sketched on the wall.  
  
“Yeah, that’s classic Hookman, all right.” Dean said. “It’s definitely a spirit.” He said, tapping his nose. You sniffed the air a few times, your nose scrunched up.  
  
“I’ve never smelt ozone this strong before.” Sam commented, glancing around the bedroom.  
  
As Dean headed over towards the window to see the commotion going down below, you glanced down to see a symbol was carved right below the writing. “Hey, come here.” You said to Dean, you tapped Sam on the shoulder as you pointed towards the drawing. “Does that look familiar to you?” The brothers nodded their head.  
  
\+ + +  
  
“It’s the same symbol.” Sam said, holding the photocopy of the information you had found at the library. All of you leaned on the hood of the Impala as you observed the paper. “Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns.”  
  
“Let’s find the dude’s grave, salt and burn his bones, and put him down.” Dean suggested.  
  
“'After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in an old North Cemetery in an unmarked grave.‘” Sam read, slapping the paper.  
  
“Super.” Dean muttered, getting off the car and heading towards the driver’s side of the car.  
  
“Okay, so we know it’s Jacob Karns, but we still don’t know where he’ll manifest next. Or why.” Sam said, leaning on top of the roof as he watched his brother pluck off a ticket from the windshield wiper.  
  
“I’ll take a wild guess about why. I think your friend Lori has something to do with this.” Dean suggested, heading back into the car. You followed behind, wondering what he was getting at.  
  
\+ + +  
  
Dance music played in the air as bodies crowded around one another. You squeezed yourself from a group of people that were around you. You were no strange towards college parties, going to a few when you were in high school with your friends. You noticed a few boys flashed you a flirty smile at you while you passed them. You just smiled and headed up towards Sam and Dean that had already met back up.  
  
“You’ve been holding out on me. This college thing is awesome!” Dean said, eyes gazing around the bodies that were spread around the place.  
  
“This wasn’t really my experience.” Sam admitted.  
  
“Let me guess—library, studying, straight A’s.” Dean said, Sam just nodded his head. “What a geek.” He muttered underneath his breath, looking at the both of you. “Did you two do your homework?”  
  
“Yeah, it was bugging me. I mean, how is this whole thing tied with Lori?” You asked, walking as the brothers followed you behind. You pulled out a rolled up paper and handed it to Dean. “I think I came up with something.”  
  
He grabbed it, unrolling the ends a bit more and read what he saw. “1932—'Clergyman arrested for murder.’ 1967—'Seminarian held in hippie rampage.”  
  
You tapped a finger on the paper and looked up at him. “There’s a pattern here.” You said, all stopping in front of a doorway. You didn’t notice a pool game happening right across from you. “In both cases, the suspect was a man of religion who promptly preached against immortality and found himself wanted for killings he claimed were a work of an invisible force, killings carried—get this—with a sharp instrument.“  
  
“What’s the connection with Lori?” Dean asked.  
  
“A man of religion who only preaches against immortality.” You said, Dean nodded his head. “Except for saving the whole town, he’s trying to save his only daughter.”  
  
“Reverend Sorenson.” Dean finished, glancing at the paper for a few seconds before looking at you and Sam. “Do you think he’s summoning the spirit?”  
  
“Maybe.” Sam said, shrugging his shoulders. “Or you know how a poltergeist can haunt a person instead of a place?”  
  
“The spirit latches onto the reverend’s repressed emotions, feeds off them.” Dean said.  
  
“Without the reverend even knowing it.” Sam finished, sighing to himself.  
  
“Either way, you should keep an eye on Lori tonight.” Dean said, giving his attention towards his brother. You weren’t paying much attention when your eyes landed on someone that was rather cute looking. They gave you a toothy grin and winked at you, causing you to bashfully smile and turn away.  
  
“What about you two?” Sam asked, looking at you when you finally focused back on what you were doing. You composed yourself and answered.  
  
“Dean and I are going to see if we can find an unmarked grave.” You said, watching as he stared at a blonde that just happened to pass by. You grabbed his sleeve and smiled. “Let’s go lover boy, we’ve got some digging to do.” He just sarcastically chuckled and followed you behind to the front door.  
  
\+ + +  
  
With a flashlight in your hand and a shovel in the other, you navigated the way through the cemetery as Dean followed by your side with the duffel bag on his shoulder and another shovel in his other hand. You shined the light on several grave markings as you made it deeper into the cemetery. You stopped for a moment and looked at the handful of markings that were in front of you, but all of them had writing on them.  
  
You and Dean walked side by side for another minute into the place until you felt a hand wrap around arm and pull you backwards slightly. You looked over to see Dean had grabbed you, stopping you in your tracks. You were about to speak, but a rustling noise in the distance. You looked around the cemetery to see if there was anyone around besides the two of you, but you were alone.  
  
You continued on for another few minutes, but with a bit more caution. As you got deeper into the place, you were fearful that you weren’t going to find what you came out to see. But when you shined on a tombstone with a rather familiar symbol, you smiled. “Here we go.” You said towards Dean, he looked over and nodded.  
  
Both of you walked up towards the grave and dropped your belongings, getting ready to dig. You took off your jacket, throwing it to the side as you started shoveling for what felt like forever. Graves were normally six feet deep, and boy, it wasn’t fun to deal with Dean’s whining and the sweat that made your clothes stick to you, even with the night’s cold breeze that would sometimes pass by. You were almost there when you saw Dean stop and lean against the side of the grave.  
  
“That’s it.” Dean muttered, catching his breath. “Next time, I get to watch the cute girl’s house.”  
  
You rolled your eyes. “Quit your whining and get back to work.” You said, shoveling a few more times before your shovel scraped across something wooden. You slammed the metal part down until the old wood cracked and shattered, revealing a skeleton. “Hello, preacher.”   


\+ + +

If somebody told you on the first day of traveling with the boys that you were going to be allowed to burn a corpse, you would have laughed at their face. You knew the boys liked your help on cases and what not, but that was for mostly research. And there were other times when you didn’t give them much of a choice in the matters when things became a little hectic. (Of course, when hasn’t it?) But you didn’t think that you were ever going to be doing something like a hunter.    
  
Dean was beginning to presume the case all three of you were working on could be shut with a simple salt and burn. He thought that it would be good practice if you had the chance to do this one yourself. You were more than happy to take on the process, after all, you probably could do this in your sleep from all the times you heard about this.   
  
Salt and burns were the most easiest things someone could do when destroying something of the supernatural. You knew the process from the many times that the Winchester boys explained it to you while trying to tell a story about a case they worked on a while back. It was burned in the back of your mind. You could probably do it with your eyes closed. But, Dean wanted to go through it just one more time.   
  
“There are three thing you need to know about burning a body.” Dean explained, dusting off the dirt from his pants after crawling out of the freshly dug grave. You stood on the level ground as you leaned yourself against the shovel. You watched as he stood up and headed over towards the duffel bag and began to take out a few things from it to start the process. Salt, lighter fluid and a box of matches.   
  
“You need to salt the bones and squirt it with lighter fluid.” You went on for him, throwing the shovel towards the ground and walking over towards his crouched body. You leaned over and grabbed the container of salt and lighter fluid from his hands. “Then you throw in a lit match and presto—you have yourself an illegal bonfire.” You cracked a small smile, but it dropped when Dean gave you a disapproving glare. You rolled your eyes and headed over towards the body.   
  
Standing over the grave, you shook out a good amount of salt over the bones, just until you guessed there was just enough covering what was left of the decomposed corpse. You squirted a large amount of lighter fluid over the body next. Deeming that the body was ready for the burning part, you threw the containers towards the duffel bag again and took the matches that were hovering next to you in Dean’s palm. You popped open the small box and pulled out a match. You scraped the top part over the side of the box until you saw a small flame ignite. You tossed the match into the hole and watched the process unfold.    
  
In just seconds, you watched as the fire slowly built itself until there was nothing left to see except a flame that was beginning to grow, burning the bones into ashes. You watched for a few minutes until you heard the sound of something ringing. It took you a few seconds to realize that it was your phone. You dug inside your jean pocket and scrambled to get it in time, you answered with a rushed out hello. When the person on the other line spoke, you immediately knew it was Sam, and from his tone of voice, something bad happened.   
  
He tried to explain that something attacked Lori’s father while he was talking to her. He was now at a hospital in town and was being waited to be questioned by police. You let out a sharp sigh, mumbling an okay before hanging up your phone and shoving it back into your pocket.   
  
You turned your head to see that Dean was staring at you, wanting to know who you were talking to. “That was Sam; he said that Lori’s father was attacked.” You said, watching as his face dropped into concern. “He and Lori are fine, she’s a bit shaken up, but that’s it. Why don’t we quickly finish up here and be on our way.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
You and Dean made it back into town just an hour after the sun finally rose. You made it towards the floor where Lori’s father was staying at after lying towards the nurse at the reception desk saying you were her sister. So it was just a little white lie. You just wanted to see how the three of them were doing. You opened the double doors and headed into the hall, but you and Dean were stopped by two officers.   
  
“Sorry kids, this ward is closed off for a patient.” The first officer spoke up, putting up a hand to stop the two of you from going any closer. Your eyes scanned around the place until you saw Sam standing at the end of the hall with another officer.   
  
“It’s all right. I’m with him.” Dean explained, pointing towards his brother. He tried to walk again, but both of the officers still wouldn’t let you two through. One of them placed a hand on Dean’s chest to keep him from trying to break through, but that wouldn’t stop him from drawing attention towards himself. “That’s my brother. Hey, brother!” Dean shouted, his voice echoing through the hall.   
  
You watched as the officer that was standing next to Sam turned his head to look at Dean. He nodded his head and gestured for the two of you to come forward. “Let them through.” He said just loud enough for all of you to hear from the other end of the hall.   
  
The two officer stepped out of the way after getting the command. You flashed a polite smile as Dean muttered a thank you with a fake grin before bolting down the hallway as you followed along. Sam was walking towards you now after being dismissed by the other officer.   
  
“You okay?” Dean asked when both brothers came into a safe distance from everyone. You noticed that the officers down at the other end of the hall were walking away. All three of you walked for a few more seconds. Sam muttered a yeah while walking in sync with Dean. “What the hell happened?”   
  
“Hookman.” Sam said, turning his head slightly as if someone was trying to drop into the conversation. But the hallway was beginning to become empty except for the three of you.   
  
“Wait, you saw him?” You asked, disbelief rising in your voice.   
  
“Damn right.” Sam explained in a whispered tone, stepping in front of you and Dean. All of you stopped near a wall of window that overlooked the hospital parking lot. “Why didn’t you two burn the bones?”   
  
“We did.” You said, your face scrunching into frustration. You rubbed your hands over your face, the sleep deprivation was beginning to take a toll on your body. But you reminded yourself you needed to stay up just a bit longer until the three of you knew exactly what was going on.   
  
“Are you sure it’s the spirit of Jacob Karns?” Dean asked, looking at you and Sam.   
  
“Sure as hell looked like him. And that’s not all.” Sam said, your ears perked up to see what else he had to say. His eyes quickly glanced around at the hallway behind you before dropping his gaze. “I don’t think the spirit is latching onto the reverend.”   
  
“Yeah, the guy wouldn’t send the hookman after himself.” Dean muttered, he cautiously glanced over his shoulder when he heard the sounds of someone from behind. But it was just a nurse entering a patient’s room.   
  
“I think it’s attaching onto Lori.” Sam said. “Last night she said she found out that her father is having an affair with a married woman.”   
  
“So what?” Dean asked, brushing it off like it was nothing.   
  
“So, she’s upset about it. She’s upset about the immorality of it. She was raised to believe that if you do something wrong, you get punished.” Sam explained. You could tell by the tone of his voice that he was dead set on this idea.   
  
“Okay, so she’s conflicted. And the spirit of preacher Karns is latching onto her emotions and doing the punishing for her.” You thought out loud. The more than Sam was beginning to talk, the more you were starting to believe that Lori was the cause of this.   
  
“Right. Rich comes on too strong. Taylor tries to make her into a party girl. Dad has an affair.” Sam began to list off the people that were attacked by the spirits. Each one of them was going against some sort of religious belief. Two of them ended up dead, and one of them in critical condition. Lori was like a walking disaster, waiting for the next sinner.   
  
“Remind me not to piss this girl off.” Dean muttered, his voice dropping when a doctor walked passed the three of you, but he never broke eye contact from the folder that he must have been reading.   
  
“But, I don’t get it. I burned those bones. Dean and I buried them in salt. Why didn’t that stop him?” You asked, shaking your head slightly as you looked up at Sam, you noticed that he was staring at the window.   
  
He turned his head and shrugged his shoulders. “You must’ve missed something.”   
  
You thought to yourself for a few moments; you began to mentally retrace the steps inside your mind of what you did. You did everything that Dean instructed you to do, there wasn’t anything you could have missed. You shook your head again. “No, we burned everything in that coffin.”   
  
“Did you get the hook?” Sam asked, your eyebrows furrowed.   
  
Dean looked away from the window that he was staring at and gave his brother a confused look. “The hook?”   
  
“It was the murder weapon, and in a way, it was a part of him.” Sam explained, you sighed quietly to yourself. There was always something else.   
  
“So, like the bones, the hook is a source of his power.” Dean trailed off on the idea, walking in small steps.   
  
“So, if we find the hook…” You muttered, your eyes bouncing both and forth between both brothers.   
  
“We stop the hookman.” The brothers said in perfect sync, both of them sharing smiles.   
  
You rolled your eyes and sighed. “You two really need to stop doing that.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
Later that afternoon after a quick nap and a change of clothes. the three of you were back at the library. You rested your head on the palm of your hand as you tried your hardest to keep your focus on the reading material in front of you. But you kept reading the same sentence over and over again. A clutter of books and old documents were spread across the table, still yet to be opened. A layer of dust was still spread across it, waiting for someone to brush it off and read the material inside of them.   
  
“Here’s something, I think.” Dean said, you glanced up to see that he had a pen cap stuck between his teeth. He took it out as he began to read from the book that was in front of him. “Logbook, Iowa State Penitentiary. ‘Karns, Jacob—personal affects, disposition thereof.’”   
  
“Does it mention the hook?” You asked, leaning over the table to see the book. It was rather an old one, the pages were stained as the ink was beginning to fade from the many years.   
  
“’Upon execution, all earthly items shall be remanded to the prisoner’s house of worship, St. Barnabas church.’” Dean read, his fingers tracing down the page.   
  
“Isn’t that where Lori’s father preaches?” Sam asked, you nodded your head. “Where Lori lives?”   
  
“That’s why the hookman has been haunting reverends and reverends’ daughters for the past two hundred years.” Dean said, dropping his gaze back towards the book. You watched as he placed the pen cap back towards his mouth as he continued to read a bit more.   
  
“But if the hook were at the church or Lori’s house, don’t you think someone would have seen it?” You asked, confusion rising in your voice. “I mean, a blood-stained, silver-handled hook?”   
  
Dean grabbed the cap out from between his lips, he put it back on the pen. “Check the church records.” He must’ve muttered to himself, because the next thing you saw him do was get up from seat and headed somewhere else.   
  
A few minutes later, Dean had came back with several other old looking books. You presumed it was the records he was talking about. All of you grabbed one and opened them up, getting ready to do more research. You sat back at the table as Dean and Sam took other spots. You dusted off small gray particles as you began to go through the documents.   
  
It took a while for someone to find something, but Sam was the first one to  speak up. He began reading off what he found in the book that was opened in his lap. Your eyes jumped up from the book you were reading. “St. Barnabas donations, 1862. Received—silver-handled hook from state penitentiary reforged.” Sam sighed to himself, looking up from the book and shook his head. “They melted it down, made it to something else.” You slammed your book shut in frustration. Things just couldn’t get any better, could they?   
  
\+ + +   
  
Darkness had fallen when the three of you pulled up towards the church. Dean parked the car and shut off the engine. All of you stepped out of the vehicle and started heading up towards the building that was a few yards away.   
  
“All right. We can’t take any chances. Anything silver goes in the fire.” Dean explained, all of you stopped in front of the car as you looked at the church for a few moments.   
  
“I agree.” Sam muttered. “Lori’s still at the hospital. We’ll have to break in.”   
  
“All right, take your pick. I’m going to the church. Who wants to tag along?” You asked.   
  
“I’ll take the house.” Sam said. You nodded your head and watched as he started walking towards the home.   
  
You were about to head over towards the church until Dean spoke up towards his brother. You froze as Sam stopped in his tracks, turning around to look at his brother. “Hey. Stay out of her underwear drawer.”   
  
“Dean!” You hissed, rolling your eyes as Sam just gave his brother a glare. You grabbed the oldest Winchester by his free arm that wasn’t carrying the bag and dragged him towards the church.   
  
Both of you headed inside and began to search around the place to find anything that even looked like silver. You had found a decent amount of stuff from the little scavenger hunt. It all now sat in a pile next to the small wooden stove inside the basement. You watched as Dean threw different things inside the roaring fire as you stood on the sidelines, giving him belongings when he threw them in.   
  
A creaking sound from above caused both of you to stop your actions. Your head whipped towards the top of the stairs to see a dark figure looming in the doorway. As it began to approach the two of you, you realized it was just Sam. You relaxed a little as he headed down, the stairs creaking from each step.   
  
“I got everything that even looks silver.” Sam explained, heading downstairs and throwing his small bag full of belongings on the floor next to the stove, making a small clanking from the impact.   
  
“Better to be safe than sorry.” Dean said.   
  
The three of you dropped into a comfortable silence as Dean continued to put a few more things into the fire until something stopped the three of you. Floors creaking above you as the faintest amount of dust began to float in the air, all of you looked up in panic. You waited for a few seconds, hearing the sounds of someone still walking.   
  
“Move, move.” Dean ordered, bolting towards the salt gun as you and Sam followed behind to check out what was coming from upstairs.   
  
All of you quickly ran up the steps, Dean was the first one out to inspect what was going on. He stopped when he saw someone familiar sitting in the pews. You stepped out and examined the place, but your eyes dropped a familiar brown haired girl, Lori. + + + When the three of you discovered Lori sitting inside the church, you knew she wasn’t much of a threat towards you. Dean lowered the salt gun and nodded towards Sam, knowing that he could get this under control. He turned around and stepped back towards the basement, closing the door behind him. You and Sam were left alone with Lori that was just across the room. You could tell from the position that she was in that she must have been praying.

  
You crossed your arms over your chest and began to mentally debate with yourself of what to do next. Part of you wondered if you should head back down towards the basement and help Dean with melting the silver. Sam had been the one that bonded with Lori, after all. Both of them had dealt with the loss of a loved one. And not to mention, Sam was generally better with dealing with people.   
  
Deciding to let Sam take this one, you turned around and headed towards the wooden door. Your fingers wrapped around the doorknob, but before you could turn it, Sam quietly called out your name. You looked over your shoulder to see that he was giving you a weak smile.   
  
“Lori could use all the support she could get. I think it would be good to speak to someone like you right now.” Sam said, pointing a finger over his shoulder. Your lips ever so slightly twitched, making the connection with what he was trying to make.   
  
You just nodded your head. You followed behind Sam as he walked up towards Lori. As you got closer towards her, you began to hear her muffled sobs. She was kneeling down on the ground with her fingers interlocked as they rested on the wooden backside of the seat in front of her.   
  
“Lori?” Sam quietly called out, standing in front of her.   
  
Her head whipped around, jumping slightly when she saw the two of you standing over her. Lori’s cheeks were stained with tears as she turned around in her seat more, looking at the both of you with confusion written in her face. Her gaze went to Sam when she spoke up again. “What are you doing here?” She asked in a low tone.   
  
Sam crouched down on the ground so he was at eye contact with her. He gave her a concerned look. “What is it?”   
  
“I’ve been trying to understand what’s been happening, why. Now I know, so I’m praying for forgiveness.” Lori explained her eyes kept looking around the church as her lips curled. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion of what she was talking about.   
  
“Forgiveness for what?” Sam wondered, his tone was soft.   
  
“Don’t you see? I’m to blame for all of this.” She admitted. “I’ve read in the bible about avenging angels.”   
  
You sighed to yourself, shaking your head as you leaned against the side of the seat she was sitting on. “Lori, this guy—he’s no angel.” You said, shaking your head.   
  
“But you don’t understand.” She said. You watched as she tilted her head towards the ground as she focused on a spot on the ground. “I was so angry at my father. Part of me wanted him punished. And then he came and punished him.”   
  
“It’s not your fault.” Sam said to her, she lifted her head up and sniffled.   
  
“Yes, it is. I don’t know how, but it is. I killed Rich, Taylor too. I nearly killed my father.” Lori ranted on. You turned your head slightly when you saw something unusual from the corner of your eye, still listening to her, But when you looked—there was nothing there. You shrugged it off and paid attention back towards the girl.   
  
“Lori.” Sam tried again, but she wouldn’t listen to him.   
  
“I can see it now. They didn’t deserve to be punished.” Lori admitted, shaking her head. “I do.”   
  
With those words being said, your ears perked up towards something whistling in the wind as a cold breeze passed you by. You stood up straight as Lori and Sam jumped up from their seats. You cautiously looked around when you saw that the lit candles sitting on a table across the room were suddenly were blown out by a gust of wind. Something was here, and from your guess, it wasn’t a friendly angel here to help save the day.   
  
“Come on. We got to go.” Sam said, nodding his head towards the church door entrance.   
  
You and Lori walked in sync as Sam followed behind, looking around the place to see if there was anyone around. You now were practically jogging towards the entrance as you headed towards the closed wooden doors. As you reached to open it, something ripped through the wood. In a blink of an eye a metal hook broke through the door and was aimed right at your level.   
  
You felt Sam grab a hold of your arm and drag you backwards, giving you enough time to dodge the sudden attack. You blinked and tried to regain yourself, but your legs began moving when you heard Sam shout a command for all of you to run. “Go! Come on!”   
  
Sam grabbed Lori by the arm and all of you ran fast as you could from the spirit that was around here somewhere, getting ready to plan his next attack. All of you ran through the church until you found a door. You ripped open the door and headed inside. Lori was right after you and then Sam popped in, trying to close the door before the spirit could reappear. But it was faster than all of you.   
  
In seconds you heard Lori scream out in fright when you saw the window glass break as the hook punched through. You tried to shield Lori with your body from an attack as you watched Sam dodge a swing that was aiming for him. You had to move again when you saw Sam stumble backwards while the spirit again tried to hit him again. But the hook ended up hitting the wall, breaking off a chunk of wood.   
  
You tried to compose yourself and figure out what was going on, but everything was happening so quickly. You pushed your body against the window; Sam and Lori were backed into a corner when the spirit swung again. The sound of something breaking rang inside your ears, you looked over your shoulder to see that a statute had broken after falling towards the ground.   
  
  
Sam pushed for Lori to run to safety first, she tried her hardest, but she only made it a few inches before the spirit reappeared behind her. Sam ran forward and tried to push her out of the way before she could get hurt. As the spirit lifted up his hook to swing down on Lori, Sam jumped in front of her and pushed her towards the ground. The metal pierced his forearm, the next thing you heard was him crying out from the sudden pain.   
  
Before you had a chance to see if Sam was okay, you watched as Lori was quickly dragged across the room by an invisible force. You called out her name as you helped Sam up towards his feet. Both of you then ran towards her to see if she was okay.   
  
You bent down and grabbed a hold of her arm, trying to help her back up from the ground. “Come on, let’s go.” You said, managing to lift her up by a few inches before something stopped you again.   
  
The spirit reappeared in front of you and Sam, and before you could react, he somehow flung you across the room. Sam landed against a bookshelf, as he dropped back towards the ground, the shelf with along with him, pinning him towards the floor as books fell out as he tried to move. Your back roughly landed on the wooden floors as your head hit the top of what you presumed to be a step.   
  
Your hand rested on top of your sore and throbbing head, your fingers brushed against what felt like blood that was beginning to slowly bleed. You ignored it as you tried your hardest to get yourself up and stop this spirit from killing Lori.   
  
The man was now standing over Lori as she somehow managed to crawl herself away. Sam was hovering over the two of them as he tried to stop this mess from becoming worse. Suddenly you heard the sound of footsteps running from behind you.   
  
You turned your head to see Dean was running down the hall with the shotgun in his hands, and he was ready to aim. “Sam, drop!” He shouted, Sam heard the command and fell towards the floor. Dean shot the gun, but the spirit disappeared before the rock salt could hurt him. All what was damaged was a rather large hole in the wall.   
  
“I thought we got all the silver. Why is he still here?” Sam yelled out.   
  
“Maybe we missed something.” You thought, frantically looking around the place to see if there was anything.   
  
Sam turned around and looked around himself, but his eyes dropped towards the necklace that Lori was wearing. “Lori, where did you get that chain?” He questioned.   
  
“My father gave it to me.” She said, not sure how to properly answer.   
  
“Where did your dad get it?” You snapped, anger rising in your voice.   
  
“It was a church heirloom. He gave it to me.” She explained, but you didn’t have much time to hear about the backstory.   
  
“Is it silver?” You yelled, gesturing for her to answer quickly.   
  
“Yes.” She said. Sam leaned over and ripped the chain from her body and held onto it tightly.   
  
Suddenly there was the sound of something scraping against the walls. You slowly turned your head to look over your shoulder. Something was drawing a line as you watched small debris fall towards the floor. You nervously gulped as it began to come closer and closer towards the four of you. But you weren’t going to be here when the spirit came back.   
  
“Sam, necklace.” You shouted, putting out your palm out. He threw the chain towards you, the cold metal touched your skin as you wrapped your fingers around the chain. You bolted for the basement as Dean followed behind, making sure to toss the gun towards Sam for safety.   
  
You practically flew down the stairs, your heart was pounding inside your ears as you tried your hardest not to fall down from the speed that you were going at. You jumped off from the last two steps and headed over towards the small fire that was still burning. You swung open the tiny door and threw the chain inside, but it dangled off a piece of wood. You impatiently watched as it slowly started to melt from the heat. It felt like forever just watching the cross slowly dangle off the silver chain, but it finally dropped into the bottom as it began to melt into nothing. You looked up towards the ceiling, hoping that had destroyed the spirit for once and for all.   
  
You and Dean jogged back upstairs to see how the others were doing. Your eyes glanced around the room to see if the spirit was around, but he appeared to have vanished. You saw that Sam and Lori were still on the ground, trying to catch their breath from the sudden turn of events. You let out a sigh of relief that you had been holding. Another job well done, you thought to yourself.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“And you saw him, too, the man with the hook?” The police officer questioned, his hands on his hips. He gave you a peculiar look as you told the story again. You looked over towards the right to see that Dean was also being questioned by a police office, probably adding more details towards the generic one you thought of before police came.   
  
You nodded your head, looking back at the officer while trying to contain the urge to roll your eyes. “Yes, sir. We fought him off, and then he ran.”   
  
“And that’s all?” He asked, you watched as his eyebrows arched up slightly.   
  
You nodded your head again. “Yes, sir. That’s all.”   
  
The officer observed your face for a few moments, he glanced over at Dean before focusing his attention back on you. “Listen, you and your friends—” He pointed a finger at you, but you rolled your eyes and waved a hand for him to stop the speech.   
  
“Yeah, don’t worry. We’re leaving town and never coming back.” You muttered, turning your back on him and walked away.   
  
You were about to head back towards the car, but your eyes caught a glimpse of Sam and Lori talking before they said their final goodbyes. After a minute of talking, you watched as he headed over towards you with a blank expression. But you could tell he was going to miss her. You gave him a weak smile as you tried to think of something to focus his mind on something else. Your eyes glanced down at his bandaged arm, you slightly winced when you saw that blood had slightly seeped through the white gauze.   
  
Maybe it was the protectiveness in you, but you couldn’t help yourself but inspect his wounds that he had gotten. In the clear daylight you could see a rather large bruise underneath his eye that was starting to turn colors. Your hand reached up and grabbed his chin. You slightly turned his head so you could inspect his bruise a bit more.   
  
“Are you okay?” You asked in a whispered tone. You didn’t know what you were getting at. Either the fact that he was leaving Lori or the injuries he got during the fight.   
  
“It’s not the first time this happened.” He said, your eyes jumped towards his. You frowned slightly.   
  
“I can convince Dean for us to stay a while, see how things go.” You tried to cheer him up, dropping your hand down. You crossed your arms over your chest and smile. “Would you want that?”   
  
Sam just shook his head, not saying anything to you. You quietly sighed to yourself and nodded your head at his answer. What could you say towards him to make him feel better? Both of you headed towards the car headed inside. All three of you sat in silence as you watched the town slowly become nothing more than just a small spec in the rear view mirror.   
  
  



	8. Home.

Sunlight poured through the cracks of the closed blinds as you tossed over towards your left side on the motel bed. Your tired eyes overlooked the room that you had been crashing at for the past two days to try and catch up on some needed sleep. But during the time of your small relaxation, all you managed to do was snag three hours each night. All you would do after waking up in the night would just lay in bed, staring at the ceiling until the sun came up.   
  
Everything was becoming screwed up because the nightmares were coming back. It wasn’t the ones about your mother that you have been having for the past eight years. These were different—they were about your father, a man that would have been dead for twenty-two years in just a few short days.   
  
You don’t remember much about your father; you knew his face well enough from the small memories you still had and photographs that your mother had lying around your home after you moved from Kansas. From the stories your mother told you, he was a goofy man that didn’t like it when someone was upset. He always found a way to make sure everyone around him was happy and laughing.   
  
Your mother recalled the times when she would wake up in the middle of the night to check up on you when you were still an infant. She would catch him just holding you in his arms, rocking you back and forth while telling you stories he would make up on the spot. His voice was the only thing that would put you to sleep when you were acting fussy right before your bedtime. Your father hated it when you cried or even just whimpered out, even though that’s what babies did. He just wanted to make sure that you were taken care of and knew you were loved. Even if he could only tell you for the first two years of your life until he passed away in sleep.   
  
His sudden death always bothered you when you thought about it. Your father was a rather healthy man. It was strange when you read on his death certificate that he died from a heart attack. He was quite young for someone his age to have one. You tried asking your mother about his cause of death, but even the thought of that night would always sent her off into some sort of mood for a long lecture about bringing up things from the past. “He’s not coming back. So let it go, (Y/N)” She would always say. Oh, how you tried.   
  
Each anniversary of your father’s death, at least a week before, you would be plagued with nightmares of that night when you discovered his body in your parents’ old bedroom. You wouldn’t tell anyone about it because you thought your mother would become angry at you for bringing him up again. You couldn’t tell your school friends, they would probably think of you as a freak. So, you buried it and went on as if nothing was wrong.   
  
You rubbed your eyes and tried your hardest to get yourself out of bed. You knew the boys would be up around this time as the hunt to find another case would be on their minds. You let out a yawn and pushed yourself up into a sitting position.   
  
Three days, you thought to yourself. You just needed to survive three days of this and everything will go back to normal.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“All right. I’ve been cruising some websites. Think I found a few candidates for our new gig.” Dean sat at the small table with the laptop open for his use. You were sitting on one of the beds, focusing your attention on the wall as you took another sip of your coffee, not paying much attention. Sam was on the next bed besides yours, drawing something with a pen. Both of you were lost in your own thoughts.   
  
“A fishing trawler found off the coast of Cali. Its crew vanished. And we got some cow mutilations in west Texas.” Dean turned his head towards the two of you, he noticed that neither of you were paying much attention towards what he was saying. “Hey!” He yelled, pulling the both of you back into reality. You turned your head and blinked a few times at him. “Am I boring you two with this stuff?”   
  
You shook your head as you tried to conceal another yawn that was about to escape. You pressed the cup towards your lips and took another sip as Sam spoke up. “No, I’m listening. Keep going.” He said before paying attention back towards his drawing.   
  
Dean took one more look at the two of you before reading another article that he brought up towards the computer screen. “And here a Sacramento man shot himself in the head…three times.” He placed up three fingers as he turned his head to look at you and Sam again. But none of you seemed fazed at what he was saying. “Any of these blowing up your skirt, pal?”   
  
You muttered something underneath your breath as you waved your hand towards him. In all honestly, you could care about all these mysterious happenings around the country right now. Your mind was set on putting your head on this strangely comfortable pillow and closing your eyes for a few minutes.   
  
Sam flipped through the notepad that he had been attached towards for the past few days. He didn’t show anyone, but they were all of the same thing, a tree that he kept drawing over and over again. He observed them for a few moments before something struck inside his mind. “Wait, I’ve seen this.” Sam muttered to himself.   
  
“Seen what?” Dean questioned, looking at his brother.   
  
You watched as Sam jumped from the bed and headed over towards his bag. He leaned over and began to search through his clothes until he pulled out a very familiar leather pouch—John’s journal. “What are you doing?” You asked.   
  
Sam dropped the journal and the notepad towards the bed. He opened up the journal and began to search through a mess of papers that were in the small folder compartment. He pulled out an old photograph of the family and observed it for a few seconds. He stood up straighter and looked at his brother. “Dean, I know where we have to go next.”   
  
“Where?” Dean asked, his eyebrows arched up.   
  
But the answer that Sam provided didn’t leave a good feeling in you. “Back home. To Kansas.”   
  
Dean scoffed. “Okay, random. Where’d that come from?”   
  
“All right, um..” Sam began, heading towards Dean with the photograph he found. You got up from your seat and walked up behind the oldest Winchester, watching as Sam dropped the photograph towards the table. “This photo was taken in front of our old house, right? The house where Mom died?”   
  
“Yeah.” Dean said, picking up the picture and observing it.   
  
You had to smile at the family portrait; John and Mary looked so young at the time. Dean was just a little boy as Sam was still a baby, being cradled in his mother’s arms. Everything was so simple back when all of you were kids. Before everything changed and parents dropped like flies. You shook your head at the bitter thought that crossed your mind.   
  
“It didn’t burn down completely. They rebuilt it, right?” Sam questioned.   
  
“I guess so, yeah. What the hell are you talking about?” Dean asked, his eyes flickering up from the photograph towards his little brother.   
  
“Okay, look, this is gonna sound crazy,” Sam said, sitting down on the chair across from Dean. You gave the boy a curious look at where he was going with this. “But I think the people who live in our old house, I think they might be in danger.”   
  
“Why would you think that?” You asked, giving him a concerned look.   
  
He looked like a deer in headlights, stuttering out an answer for the two of you. “Um…just, um…” He shook his head. “Look, just—you guys just gotta trust me on this, okay?” He asked, bolting out of his seat and towards somewhere else inside the motel room.   
  
“Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa. Trust you?” Dean got up from his seat and followed his brother over towards the bed, where Sam dropped his bag towards the bed and began to start packing up his belongings.   
  
“Yeah.” Sam simply said, throwing random articles of clothing inside the bag.   
  
You rolled your eyes and sighed to yourself. “You’ve got to give us a little bit more than that.”   
  
“I can’t really explain it is all.” Sam stopped packing for a few moments to look at you, throwing a hand in the air for added effect. Your eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.   
  
“Well, tough. I’m not going anywhere until you do.” Dean argued, his voice raising slightly.   
  
Sam finally stopped packing and stood up straight, turning his body so he was now facing you and Dean. He let out a loud sigh and kept quiet for a few moments before speaking. “I have these nightmares.” He admitted.   
  
“We’ve noticed.” You remarked, gesturing for him to continue on.   
  
“And sometimes they come true.” Sam said, looking at the two of you with a weak smile. You blinked a few times, trying to figure out what he said.   
  
Dean let out a small laugh. “Come again?”   
  
“Look, Dean…” He kept quiet for a few seconds, shaking his head. “I dreamt about Jessica’s death for    
days before it even happened.”   
  
“Sane people have weird dreams, Sam. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.” You said, watching from the corner of your eye as Dean walked over towards the bed and took a seat.   
  
“No, I dreamed about the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire—everything. And I didn’t do anything about it ‘cause I didn’t believe it.” Sam admitted, he began to ramble on faster about the dream that he had. “Now I’m dreaming about that tree, our house, and some woman screaming for help. That’s where it all started. This has to mean something, right?”   
  
Dean was quiet for a few moments, looking down at the photograph and then at his brother. He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know.” He admitted.   
  
“What do you mean you don’t know, Dean?” Sam nearly shouted, running over towards his brother as he sat on the bed opposite of his brother. “This woman might be in danger. This could be the thing that killed Mom and Jessica.”   
  
You watched as Dean jumped up from the bed, you could tell everything about this was becoming too much for him. “All right, just slow down, will you?” He said, walking back over towards the table. He nervously chuckled as he looked at the two of you. “I mean, first you’re telling me that you’ve got the shining…and then you’re telling me I’ve got to go back home?” Your face softened, you knew this must be breaking open old wounds for the man. “Especially when…”   
He stopped talking for a few seconds.   
  
You gave him a concerned look. “When what?” You asked.   
  
“When I swore to myself I would never go back there.” Dean said in a low tone. He turned his back towards the two of you and dropped the photograph towards the table.   
  
You quietly sighed to yourself and looked at Sam, who looked like he was ready to plead with his brother until he got what he wanted. You knew that if the three of you didn’t check this out, guilt would eat the poor boy alive if something were to happen. “Look, Dean, we have to check this out. Just to make sure.” You said in a soft tone.   
  
Dean turned his head to look at the two of you for the longest time. He slightly clenched his jaw before speaking up. “I know we do.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
You watched as the sign for Lawrence, Kansas passed your vision before it disappeared as Dean drove on. It felt strange to be back towards your hometown after so many years. You left this place with bitter memories. You weren’t going to deny yourself in the fact that seeing your old childhood home was going to be strange. You lived right across from the Winchesters for a few years before the fire. After that, they moved away somewhere else before heading on the road when your mother told John the news about your plan to move towards a new state.   
  
The thought of you being just yards from your own old home while you stepped inside their old childhood home sent a bad feeling inside your stomach. Part of you wanted to sneak away and look around the place to see if you had any memories left there. But that’s not what you were here for, you reminded yourself. The past was the past and you needed to keep yourself focused on the job.   
  
The three of you drove for a little bit longer until you pulled up towards the old neighborhood again. Everything looked the same around the place, except for the cars and a few different houses that were painted a different color. But you saw the same old tree in the Winchester’s old home. You turned your head and stared at your old house. Your lips twitched into a small smile when you saw it. Nothing changed about the place, there was even a for sale sign still stuck in the grass. It was exactly as you left it twenty years ago.   
  
You turned your head to see that the boys were looking at their childhood home with different mixed expressions. Dean looked like he was a bit hesitant to even head over towards the front door while Sam looked at his brother. “You gonna be alright, man?” He asked.   
  
Dean stared at the house for a few seconds before turning to look at his brother. “Let me get back to you on that.” He honestly said.   
  
It was quiet between the three of you for about a minute before Sam opened up his door and headed out. You and Dean followed behind in his actions, stepping out of the car and towards the pavement. Your stomach twisted in knots as you slowly approached the house closer and closer. You faintly remember the times when you were younger, running up the steps of the porch to see your best friend Dean and his newborn brother Sam. Your parents trailed behind, laughing at your enthusiasm.   
  
Sam rang the doorbell as all of you waited a few seconds before you saw the front door open. A blonde haired woman answered it. She peeked her head out of the door. “Yes?” She asked, observing all of you with slight caution.   
  
“Sorry to bother you, ma’am, but we’re with the federal—” Dean started off some speech, but Sam quickly cut him off with another reason why all you were here.   
  
“I’m Sam Winchester, this is my brother Dean and that’s my friend (Y/N) (Y/L/N).” Sam said, turning his head to look at the two of you before focusing his attention back on the woman. “Um…my brother and I used to live here. You know, we were just driving by, and we were wondering if we could see the old place.”   
  
She looked at the two brothers for a few seconds. “That is so funny. I think I found some of your old photos the other night.”   
  
“You did?” Dean asked, slightly surprised.   
  
She looked inside the house before turning her attention back towards the three of you. She stepped out of the way and opened up the door farther for all of you to head inside. “Okay. Come on in.”   
  
You smiled politely at her as you were the last one to step inside. You closed the door behind her and followed everyone. The woman introduced herself as Jenny while she directed all of you into the kitchen. Your eyes wandered around the place as old memories began to flood back into your mind. You remember running around the place with Dean, screaming and giggling before being scolded by Mary for being so loud, warning the both of you that you would wake up little Sammy.   
  
A mantra of the word juice could be heard when you stepped inside the kitchen. Your eyes landed on a little boy that looked no older than three years old. He stood inside his wooden playpen as he jumped up and down, a smile was placed on his lips. You smiled back at him while you noticed a young girl sitting at the table doing her homework.   
  
“That’s Richie. He’s kind of a juice junkie.” Jenny said, heading over towards the fridge and opening it. She grabbed a sippy cup and headed over towards her son. She smiled and handed him the cup. “But, hey, at least he won’t get scurvy.” She headed over towards her daughter and placed her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “Sari—this is Sam, Dean and their friend (Y/N). These boys used to live here.”   
  
She quietly said hello with a smile. You waved towards her as you smiled back. “Hey, Sari.” You said.   
  
“So, you just moved in?” Dean asked, focusing his attention on Jenny.   
  
“Um, yeah, from Wichita.” She answered.   
  
“You have any family here?” You asked curiously.   
  
She looked at all of you, slightly stuttering out an answer. “No, I just…uh, um I needed a fresh start. That’s all.” She said, placing one of her hands on her hips. You nodded your head as she smiled. “So new town, new job—I mean, as soon as I find one—new house.” She said, turning her back on all of you as she headed over towards the sink.   
  
“Everyone needs a fresh start. You know, I used to live right across the street. My mom and I moved though when I was four. Great neighborhood, though.” You said, slightly rocking yourself on the back of your heels. Jenny gave you a n interested look, you smiled and changed the subject. “So, how are you liking the house so far?”   
  
She leaned her backside against the sink. “Well, uh, with all due respect to your childhood home—I mean, I’m sure all of you have lots of happy memories here,” You smiled. If she only knew. “But the place has its issues.” She said, turning her back once more towards the three of you.   
  
“What do you mean?” Sam asked.   
  
“Well, it’s just getting old, like the wiring, you know? We have flickering lights almost hourly.” She said, your ears perked up at that. You knew that wasn’t a good sign.   
  
“Oh, that’s too bad. What else?” Dean asked, shrugging his shoulders.   
  
Jenny looked over her shoulder at the sink before looking back at all of you. “Um…the sink’s backed up. There’s rats in the basement.” She listed on, your eyes went towards Dean. His lips twitched slightly as he looked down. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to complain.” She said, bashfully turning her head away.   
  
“No.” Dean said, smiling as he shook his head. “Have you seen the rats or just heard scratching?”   
  
“Just the scratching, actually.” Jenny admitted, ringing out the blue dishtowel in Jenny headed over towards her daughter when she called for her.   
  
“Ask them if it was here when they lived here.” She whispered towards her mother.   
  
You looked at Sari, confusion written in your face. “What, Sari?” You asked.   
  
“The thing in my closet.” She said.   
  
“Oh no, baby, there was nothing in their closets.” Jenny said, a smile stretching across her face as she looked at the boys. “Right?”   
  
“Right, no. No, of course not.” Sam said, looking down at Sari with a small smile.   
  
“She had a nightmare the other night.” Jenny admitted, looking down at her daughter.   
  
“I wasn’t dreaming.” Sari corrected her mother. “It came into my bedroom, and it was on fire.” You were slightly taken back at what she said. You glanced over at the boys who seemed just as shocked as you were at what the little girl said.   
  
All three of you said goodbye before polity letting yourself step outside. When you closed the front door and headed out, Sam went at it again. You followed behind as you listened on what Sam was rambling on about. “A figure on fire.” Sam said, his head turned towards his brother as both of them walked down the front steps.   
  
“And you’re sure Jenny was the woman in your dreams?” Dean questioned.   
  
“Yeah, and you heard what she was talking about—scratching, flickering lights? Both signs of a malevolent spirit.” Sam said, all of you walking towards the car.   
  
“I’m just freaked out your weirdo visions are coming true.” Dean admitted, glancing over at his brother.   
  
“Forget about that, the thing inside the house—do you think that’s the thing that killed Mom and Jessica?” Sam asked, throwing an arm up so he was pointing towards the house.   
  
“I don’t know.” Dean snapped.   
  
“Has it come back or has it been there the whole time?” Sam kept going on, standing in front of Dean so he couldn’t walk.   
  
“Maybe it’s something else entirely.” Dean went on.   
  
“Those people are in danger. We have to get them out.”   
“We will.”   
  
“No, I mean now.”   
  
“How you got a story she’s gonna believe?”   
  
“Then what are we supposed to do?”   
  
You rubbed your hands over your face, the stress of them fighting and the lack of sleep was getting on your nerves. Everything about this situation was slowly making you want to lose your mind. But instead, you lost your patience. “Are you two ladies done arguing?” You snapped, your voice rising enough for both of them to stop and look at you with slight shock. You rolled your eyes and headed over towards the backseat. You ripped open the door and jumped inside, you weren’t in the mood for them to start in with you now.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“We just got to chill out, that’s all. If this was any other kind of job, what would we do?” Dean asked, leaning over the trunk of the car as he stared off into space. You were sitting on the trunk besides Dean, taking another sip of your coffee that you forced the boys to get you before making another stop at some car shop.   
  
Sam was resting his hands on the roof the car as he exhaled sharply. He looked around for a few moments before walking over towards you and Dean. “We’d try to figure out what we’re dealing with.” He said. “We’d dig into the history of the house.”   
  
“Exactly,” Dean said, lifting himself up into a straight position. “Except this time we already know what happened.”   
  
“Yeah, but how much do we know? How much do you guys remember?” Sam asked, you saw from the corner of your eye as he took a seat next to you.   
  
“About that night, you mean?” Dean wondered, Sam nodded his head.   
  
You let out a sigh as you tried to think about that night. You were around three at the time and you had no idea what was happening. All you remember was standing on your front lawn, watching all the chaos unfold. You wanted to run over and see if everyone was okay. But your mother had you pinned in place, her arms were protectively wrapped around your tiny shoulders. You remember how she kept whispering something underneath her breath, like a prayer. She couldn’t face the idea of you getting hurt. So, both of you just stood as witnesses, never once stepping up and seeing if the family was okay.   
  
“I don’t remember anything.” You lied, shaking your head as you reached to take another sip of your drink. “What about you, Dean?”   
  
He was quiet for a few moments, his gaze drifted towards something in the distance. “I remember the fire…the heat.” He said, slowly letting his eyes go towards his little brother. “Then I carried you out the front door.”   
  
Sam looked up at his brother. “You did?” He asked in a low tone, slightly taken back.   
  
“Yeah, well, you never knew that?” Dean wondered.   
  
“No.” Sam said, shaking his head.   
  
“And, uh…well, you know Dad’s story as well as I do—Mom was…on the ceiling, and whatever put her there was long gone by the time that Dad found her.” Dean went on.   
  
“And he never had a theory about what did it?” You couldn’t help yourself but ask.   
  
Dean shrugged his shoulders, now all of you were on the hood of the car. You were squished in between the brothers. “If he did, kept it to himself.” Dean admitted. “God knows Sam and I asked him enough times.”   
  
A small silence fell between the three of you for a few seconds until you spoke up again “Okay. So, if we’re going to figure out what’s going on now, we have to figure out what happened back then, see if it’s the same thing.”   
  
“Yeah. Talk to Dad’s friends, neighbors, people who were there at the time.” Dean said, nodding his head in agreement.   
  
You heard Sam quietly laugh to himself. “Does this feel like another job to you?” He asked, looking at the two of you with a small smile. You sighed to yourself and weakly smiled back, but Dean kept quiet towards himself for a few moments.   
  
“I’ll be right back. I got to go to the bathroom.” Dean suddenly said, you watched as he jumped off the car and headed towards the left side of the building.   
  
You looked down at your cup of coffee and shook it around, it was still half full. You handed your cup towards Sam and followed in Dean’s actions. “You know, I had a lot to drink today. I think I’ll head to the bathroom, too.” You admitted, saying a quick thank you towards Sam before bolting towards the little ladies room.   
  
You turned the corner and headed towards the bathroom, but you stopped in your tracks when you saw that Dean was standing outside with his back turned to you. He had his phone out and he was calling someone very familiar. You quickly hid behind a stack of tires as you listened in on the conversation.   
  
“Dad…I know I’ve left you messages before. I don’t know if you even get ‘em.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “But I’m with Sam and (Y/N), and we’re Lawrence,” He turned to look over his shoulder quickly before looking back. “And there’s something in our old house. I don’t know if it’s the thing that killed Mom or not, but…” You heard his voice break as he continued talking. Your fingernails dug into your palm. “I don’t know what to do. So, whatever you’re doing, if you could just get here…” He was quiet for a few moments until he said one last thing. “Please.” His tone was almost pleading. “I need your help, Dad.”   
  
You couldn’t help yourself but step out from your small hiding space and see if Dean was okay. You were about to step forward and comfort Dean, but he turned around. He jumped slightly from your sudden presence. “Jesus,” He muttered to himself. “Don’t scare me like that, (Y/N).”   
  
“Dean…are you okay?” That seemed to be the question you’ve been asking the Winchester boys lately. You didn’t even know why you bothered even asking. They always brushed it off with a grunt or some quick excuse.   
  
“I’m fine.” Dean lied, putting his phone back inside his jacket pocket.   
  
You rolled your eyes as you let out a soft sigh. “Dean, you know it’s better to talk about it than let it bottle up inside.” You reminded him. He just scoffed and focused on something. “I’m here for you, you know that, right?”   
  
“Well, the person that matters the most isn’t.” He muttered towards the ground.   
  
“Look, you have Sam and I. Leave him be.”   
  
“I need him. This is our old house we’re dealing with. I just think it would be nice if he was here to help us out. You just don’t get it, (Y/N).” Dean snapped.   
  
You stood up straighter and clenched your jaw. “Oh yeah, like this place hold so many fond memories. It’s not like I’m the only one that has bad memories.” You muttered the last part to yourself, turning your back towards Dean and headed back towards the car, leaving him there.

\+ + +

You and John Winchester, you used to own this garage together?” Dean asked. He followed behind the mechanic as all of you walked further into the garage. You watched as the man headed over towards a vehicle with the hood popped open. He tinkered around with something before grabbing a rag and turning around and facing the three of you.

  
“Yeah, we used to, a long time ago. Matter of fact, must be twenty years since John disappeared.” The machanic answered. “So, why are the cops interested all of a sudden?”   
  
“Oh, we’re reopening some of our unsolved cases, and the Winchester disappearance is one of them.” You said, looking at the two boys before focusing your attention back towards the man.   
  
“Uh-huh. Well, what do you want to know about John?” He asked, placing his hands on his hips.   
  
“Whatever you know—whatever sticks out in your mind.” Dean said.   
  
“Well…He was a stubborn bastard. I remember that.” The mechanic said, chuckling to himself. “And, uh…oh, whatever the game, he hated to lose, you know? It was that whole Marine thing. But uh, well, he sure loved Mary, and he doted on those kids.”   
  
“But that was before the fire?” Sam questioned, trying to change the subject towards the real reason why you were here.   
  
“That’s right.” The mechanic agreed, slightly shaking his head.    
  
“He ever talk about that night?” Sam asked.   
  
The man looked around for a few seconds until he made eye contact with Sam again. “No, not at first…I think he was in shock.”   
  
“Right, but eventually—what did he say about it?” Sam questioned.   
  
“Oh, he wasn’t thinking straight.” The mechanic said, shaking his head. “He said, uh—he said something caused that fire and killed Mary.”   
  
“He ever say what did it?” You couldn’t help yourself but ask.   
  
“Nothing did it. It was an accident.” He said, acting as if you grew a third head. You quietly sighed to yourself when he continued talking. “It was an electrical short in the ceiling or walls or something. That friend of his, Ella—I think that’s what her name was. Well, she and I begged him to get some help, but…”   
  
“But, what?” You asked. The question coming out more rushed than you expected. You weren’t quite sure why your mother would have tried to act as if nothing was wrong. Out of all the people that would deny something supernatural that happened that night, you were surprised your mother would be one of them.   
  
“Oh, it just got worse and worse.” He said. You gave him a look for him to continue. “He started reading these strange old books. He started going to see this palm reader in town.”   
  
“Palm reader? You have a name?” Dean asked, reaching inside his pockets to grab something.   
  
The mechanic just scoffed at him. “No.” You turned your head to look the other way, trying to control your urge to roll your eyes. Because, after all, that wouldn’t be nice for a fake police officer to do.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“All right, so, there are a few psychics and palm readers in town.” Sam said. He stood at a random payphone with the phone book propped open towards the yellow sections. You and Dean stood by the car as you watched Sam read off a few names he found. “There’s someone named El Divino. There’s someone named the Mysterious Mr. Fortinsky.” He chuckled to himself when he read off the names, looking at you and Dean. You rolled your eyes at how ridiculous people chose their names. “Uh, Missouri Moseley, some dude—”   
  
“Wait, wait—Missouri Mosley?” Dean asked, lifting himself slightly off the car.   
  
“What?” Sam turned his head up and looked at his brother with a curious glance.   
  
“That’s a psychic?” Dean questioned.   
  
Sam looked down at the phone book, reading something. “Uh…yeah, yeah I guess so.”   
  
You watched as Dean got up from the car and walked over towards the backseat. He opened up the door and grabbed something from the bag he previously thrown in the back. “In Dad’s journal,” He grabbed the leather book and opened it up. “Come here. Look at this.” You and Sam wandered over as Dean handed the journal to Sam. “First page, first sentence. Read that.”   
  
Sam quietly sighed before be began to read. “’I went to Missouri…and learned the truth.‘”   
  
“I always thought he meant the state.” Dean admitted. You smiled softly as Sam chuckled to himself.   
  
\+ + +   
  
All of you headed over to the psychic’s work place, it was a small looking place that seemed rather cozy looking. Sam and Dean sat on a bench while you sat on a small loveseat, twiddling your thumbs as you watched Dean slam another magazine towards the coffee table. It felt like you were waiting forever for her to be done with her psychic reading, you were about to grab a magazine to kill some time until you heard a voice and two people head out from her “office.”   
  
“All right, then. Don’t you worry bout a thing.” Your eyes wandered on Missouri Mosley, she walked out with a man on her left side a smile on her lips. She chuckled while continuing to talk. “Your wife is crazy about you.” She walked him towards the door and watched as he headed out. When she saw the front door close, she let out a breath and turned her attention towards the three of you. “Whew! Poor Bastard—his woman is cold-bangin’ the gardener.”   
  
“Why did you tell him?” Dean asked, his eyes following Moseley.   
  
“People don’t come here for the truth. They come for good news.” She said, turning around to look at the three of you while she headed towards the back again. She took another step before looking over her shoulder once more. “Well?” You all gave her a confused expression. “Sam and Dean, come on already. I ain’t got all day.”   
  
All three of you looked at one another for a few seconds, confusion written on your faces. You got up from your seat and followed behind the boys, all of you walked for a few moments until Sam was the first one to approach the small room. He pulled out some beads that hung from the wall and stepped inside, a bit hesitant to walk any further.   
  
“Well, let me look at you.” Moseley said, laughing to herself when the boys headed inside. You lingered around in the doorway. “Oh, you boys grew up handsome.” She laughed out again, she looked towards Dean. “And you were one goofy looking kid, too.”   
  
You couldn’t help yourself but softly chuckle to yourself, you watched as Dean looked over his shoulder and gave you a glare. Your gaze trailed off when you heard someone call out your name. You walked up towards Moseley as you watched her smile, her eyes wandered around your face, as if she was trying to figure out who you were. You watched as her smile faltered a little bit.   
  
“You must be (Y/N), right?” You nodded your head. She smiled again, hiding whatever she was going to say with something else. “Your mother came for a visit a few times with you. You were just about two years old. What a pretty thing you were back then.” She recollected, she smiled again at you. “And you’ve grown up to be even more of a beautiful woman. You look so much like her.” You blushed and looked down at your feet, mumbling a thank you.   
  
Moseley walked over towards Sam, she grabbed his hand as a smile spread across her face. “Sam,” She began to say. But when she touched him, she exhaled sharply as her demeanor changed. “Oh, honey. I’m sorry about your girlfriend. And your father…” She looked at the boys with a worried expression. “He’s missing?”   
  
Dean looked like a deer in headlights; his green eyes just stared at her while Sam looked over at his brother before speaking up. “How’d you know all that?” He questioned.   
  
“Well, you were just thinking it, just now.” She said, placing her hands on her hips.   
  
“Where is he? Is he okay?” Dean asked, his tone slightly rushed out.   
  
Moseley looked down at the ground for a few moments. “I don’t know.” She said, shaking her head.   
  
“Don’t know? You’re supposed to be psychic, right?” Dean questioned, you sighed to yourself at how rude he was becoming.   
  
You watched as she gave Dean an expression that was a mix of shock and a glare. “Boy, you see me sawing some bony tramp in half? You think I’m a magician?” She sassed, you bit your bottom lip as Dean opened his mouth to respond, slightly taken back by her response. “I may be about to read thoughts and sense energies in room, but I can’t just pull facts out of thin air.” She said. You and Sam just grinned at him while Dean stared on, confused for words. “Sit! Please.”   
  
She gestured for the three of you to take a seat on a couch as she took a spot on a chair that was right across from you. As you sat down next to Sam, you heard Moseley start to yell at Dean for another reason when he took a seat, she pointed a finger at him. “Boy, you put your foot on my coffee table, I’ll whack you with a wooden spoon.” She yelled.   
  
“I didn’t do anything.” He said, confusion written in his face.   
  
“Well, you were thinking about it.” She argued.   
  
Sam laughed as you looked at Dean with a smile. “I like her.” You said, pointing at finger at the woman in front of you. Dean just rolled his eyes and paid attention forward.   
  
“Okay, so…our dad. When did you first meet him?” Sam asked, speaking up when everyone fell silent.   
  
“He came for a reading a few days after the fire. I just told him what really was out there in the dark. I guess you could say…” You watched as her eyes trailed on you. “I drew back the curtains for him.”   
  
“What about the fire?” Dean asked. “Do you know what killed our Mom?”   
  
Her gaze went towards Dean. “A little. Your daddy took me to your house. He was hoping I could sense the echoes, and the fingerprints of this thing.”   
  
“And could you?” Sam asked.   
  
She shook her head. “I don’t…” She trailed off.   
  
“What is it?” He questioned in a low tone.   
  
”I don’t know.” She admitted, shaking her head. She exhaled sharply to herself. “But it was evil.” It was quiet around the four of you until Moseley brought the subject towards the reason why you were here. “So, you think something’s back at that house?” She asked, walking away from the door that was leaning on a few moments ago.   
  
Sam nodded his head. “Definitely.”   
  
“I don’t understand.” She said, walking back towards her seat.   
  
“What?” Sam asked.   
  
“I haven’t been back inside, but I’ve been keeping an eye on the place, and it’s been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is acting up now?” She wondered.   
  
“I don’t know. But Dad going missing and Jessica dying and now this house—all happening at once—it just feels like something’s starting.” Sam said.   
  
Dean glanced over at his brother before focusing something on the floor. “Well, that’s a comforting thought.” He mumbled to himself.   
  
\+ + +   
  
All four of you stood outside of the old Winchester home as you knocked on the front door. Moseley had agreed to take a peek around the house to see if there was anything unusual. You waited a few seconds until someone answered the door; Jenny opened it with little Richie in her arms. She seemed out of breath when her eyes landed on the boys.   
  
“Sam, Dean, what are you doing here?” She asked, looking at the boys with confusion written across her face.   
  
“Hey, Jenny. Um, this is our friend Missouri.” Sam said, gesturing towards the psychic standing in between the boys.   
  
“If it’s not too much trouble, we were hoping to show her the house, for old-time’s sake.” Dean said, letting a small smile show as he shrugged his shoulders.   
  
Jenny quietly sighed to herself as she adjusted her son on her hip. “No, you know, this isn’t a good time. I’m kind of busy.” Jenny said, walking backwards as she grabbed the door.   
  
“Listen, Jenny, it's important—ow!” Dean yelled out, you watched as Moseley whacked him upside the head as stepped forward. You shook your head, this woman didn’t tolerate anything from this boy.   
  
“Give the poor girl a break. Can’t you see she’s upset?” Moseley scolded Dean before turning her head to look at Jenny. She gave a smile before talking again. “Forgive this boy. He means well. But he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.” Dean eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he heard her make that comment. You smacked him on his arm, nodding your head for him to pay attention and act normal. “But hear me out.”   
  
“About what?” Jenny asked.   
  
“About this house.” Moseley answered.   
  
“What are you talking about?” She asked, shaking her head as she acted confused.   
  
“I think you know what I’m talking about. You think there’s something in this house, something that wants to hurt your family. Am I mistaken?”   
  
Jenny stared at the woman in front of her. “Who are you?” She questioned.   
  
“We’re people who can help, who can stop this thing, but you’re going to have to trust us just a little.” Moseley said, trying to convince Jenny to let all of you in.   
  
Jenny stood there for a few moments, mentally debating with herself for a few moments. But she quietly stood out of the way, gesturing with her head to allow all of you to step inside. You mumbled a thank you before heading inside and going towards the place where all of you haven’t been in a very long time. Sam’s old nursery.   
  
Your eyes scanned around the purple walls, nothing looked the same from the last time you saw it so many years ago. Everything was made into a little girl’s room. There was almost no traces left of what happened that night.   
  
“If there’s a dark energy around here, this room should be the center of it.” Moseley said, being the first one to step inside the room and take a glance around.   
  
“Why?” Sam wondered.   
  
“This used to be your nursery, Sam. This is where it all happened.” She explained, her back still turned towards the three of you.   
  
All of you fell into a silence as she began to walk around the room, feeling around the place for any source of energy that was off putting. Your eyes slowly glanced up, trying your hardest not to picture their mother up on the ceiling. What the poor family has been through, you thought to yourself as you turned your head down and looked at the boys. How much it must be hurting for them to have to go through all of this again, especially Dean, since he was old enough to remember what happened that night.   
  
Dean pulled out something from his pocket, the EMF reader, he began to scan around the room. Moseley turned around and glanced down at the device. “That an EMF?” She asked.   
  
He looked up for a second. “Yeah.” He muttered.   
  
“Amateur.” She simply said before continuing her search around the room. Dean looked up from the device to stare at her for a few moments, but his gaze was dropped down when the EMF began to buzz around. All of you looked at one another. “I don’t know if you boys should be disappointed or relieved, but this ain’t the thing that took your mom.”   
  
“Are you sure?” Sam asked, Moseley nodded her head. “But, how do you know?”   
  
“It isn’t the same energy I felt the last time I was here. It’s something different.” She explained, heading over towards the closet.   
  
“What is it?” Dean asked, his eyes wandering on her as she ripped open the doors.   
  
“Not it…” She said, stepping inside the closet and examining the place. “Them. There’s more than one spirit in this place.”   
  
“What are they doing here?” Sam questioned.   
  
“They’re here because of what happened to your family.” Moseley explained. She walked out of the closet and headed over towards the three of you. Her attention was focused on the boys. “You see, all those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house. That kind of evil leaves wounds, and sometimes, wounds get infected.”   
  
“I don’t understand.” Sam admitted, shaking his head.   
  
“This place is a magnet for paranormal energy.” She quickly turned her head, as if she was picking something up. “It’s attracted a poltergeist—a nasty one—and it won’t rest until Jenny and her babies are dead.” Well, that was a comforting thought.   
  
“You said there was more than one spirit.” You said.   
  
“There is.” Moseley nodded her head, heading back towards the closet. “I just can’t quite make out the second one.” She admitted, walking around the place until she walked back towards the three of you.   
  
“Well, one thing’s for damn sure—nobody’s dying this house ever again.” Dean said, stepping around until he turned around and faced Moseley. “So, whatever is here, how do we stop it?”   
  
\+ + +   
  
All of you headed back towards Moseley’s shop to find a way to banish the spirits from the house. You stood with Sam as you watched Dean put a mix of herbs and different things inside a small black cloth before he tied it up and threw it towards the middle of the table. Your eyes wandered around all the jars that were spread across the wooden table.   
  
“So, what is all this stuff anyway?” You asked, turning your head to see that Moseley was heading over from her small china cabinet and placed something on the table.   
  
“Angelica root, van van oil, crossroad dirt, a few other odds and ends.” She explained, gesturing towards the jars before turning back and grabbing something else.   
  
“What are we supposed to do with it?” Dean asked, reaching to grab a pinch of something that looked like an herb.   
  
“We’re going to put them inside the walls in the north, south, east, west corners on each floor of the house.” Moseley said, walking over towards the table with a small box inside her hands. She sat down and placed it on the table.   
  
“Punching holes in the drywall—Jenny’s gonna love that.” Dean commented, turning his head to look at you and Sam. You shook your head at him.   
  
“She’ll live.” Moseley retorted. She gave Dean a look, a small smirk lingering across her lips.   
  
“And this will destroy the spirits?” Sam asked, changing the subject.   
  
“It should. It should purify the house completely.” Moseley said. “We’ll each take a floor, but we work fast.” Your eyes wandered away from the psychic when you saw Dean slowly lift the herbs into his mouth. You sighed to yourself as you watched him spit them out, trying his hardest to act like nothing happened. “Once the spirits realize what we’re up to, things are gonna get bad.”   
  
You turned your head to look at her, a small smile spread across your face. Of all the things you’ve seen these past few months, you weren’t going to let a few nasty spirits stop you from getting this done and saving this family from being killed. 

\+ + +

You stood besides the front door as you watched Jenny gather up all her belongings and throw them into her purse. She rounded up her two children after she struggled to get their coats and shoes on. You opened up the door as the mother and Moseley headed towards you.

Jenny’s face was written with apprehension as she walked out the door with Richie on her hip. Moseley headed down the front steps first with Sari besides her. Jenny wasn’t quite sure how she still felt with the four of you house sitting for the next few hours. She made sure to bring it up once again when she stood on the sidewalk next to the porch steps.   
  
Jenny adjusted her son and turned her attention towards Moseley. “Look, you know, I’m not sure I’m comfortable leaving you guys here alone.” She said.   
  
“Just take your kids to the movie or something, and it’ll be over by the time you’re back.” Moseley explained once again. She gave the mother a reassuring look as she smiled at the mother.   
  
After a few moments of silence, Jenny nodded her head, agreeing for what she was about to do. She walked towards her car. She loaded up everyone up and drove away until she was gone from your sight. Moseley headed back up the porch steps, lingering at the front door, watching the family head off safely before stepping back inside with you.   
  
Both of you headed back towards the kitchen where they boys were standing, all of you yet to determine which floor would be taken by whom. Since there was four of you and only three levels to be taken care of, it was yet to be decided who was going to have a partner.   
  
“Jenny gone?” Dean asked, standing back to a normal position after leaning against the refrigerator.   
  
“Yup. Now that’s out of the way.” You said, slapping your hands together. “I was thinking Sam could take the second floor, Dean and Missouri could do the first floor and I could do the basement.”   
  
“How come I’m stuck with her?” Dean muttered to himself, crossing his arms over his chest.   
  
“All right, change of plans. Dean and I will do the downstairs and Missouri will do the basement.” You said, trying your hardest to suppress the urge to roll your eyes. You just stared at him instead. “Is that better?”   
  
“It’ll be just peachy when all of this is over.” He admitted, looking at something off in the distance.   
  
Sam and Moseley headed their separate ways after grabbing something to punch holes in the walls for the small bags that was needed to ward off the spirits. You and Dean headed towards the stove to get started on your level. You stood besides him as he began to move out a few appliances out of the way to make room for the hole you were about to make. A silence had fallen between the both of you for a while, it seemed like it was going to stay that way until Dean suddenly spoke up.   
  
“How are you taking all of this?” He asked. His tone of voice was so low you barely could hear him. You looked at him with slight confusion. “You know, being back in our hometown. I’ve been preoccupied with this place, I almost forgot you lived across the street from us.” He joked, a small smile spread across his lips.   
  
You snorted at his comment, handing him the hatchet so he could hit a small hole inside the wall. You shrugged your shoulders. “It’s weird, I guess. But I haven’t had much time to think about anything.” You lied, tapping your fingers on the drywall to find a hollow space. You were trying your hardest to ignore Dean’s rare attempts for you to share your feelings with him.   
  
He said your name causing you to turn your head and look at him. You gave him a curious glance, wondering what he was going to say next. “You know you can talk to me, right?”   
  
“What’s with you of a suddenly becoming Mr. Feelings? When I try to talk to you or your brother, both of you shut me down with some lame excuse.” You said. You crosses your arms over your chest and leaned your backside against the counter.   
  
“Because I know you’re still having those nightmares. Sam told me when we were driving back to Stanford. And you’ve been talking in your sleep a lot. I didn’t know if this place was bringing back…bad memories.” Dean admitted, his words coming out faster than he intended.   
  
Your jaw clenched at what he just said. Well, there goes you trusting the boys to keep a secret hidden. You grabbed the hatchet from his hands when he wasn’t paying attention and turned your back towards him. You took the metal blade towards the wall and began to take a few swings at it until some of the drywall began to crack. “What do you want me to say, Dean? There are just some things you can’t control.” You said, trying to brush it off like it was nothing. You really didn’t want to be having this conversation right now.   
  
“Why can’t you and Sam talk to me about this stuff?” Dean asked, his tone becoming slightly harder.   
  
“Because you have horrible timing of when it comes to this kind of stuff.” You admitted, turning your head to look at him. “We’re here in this place again because of what Sam saw. I’m not here to think about stuff that didn’t even happen here.” You said, watching as he put the small bag into the new hole.   
  
“That’s not what I meant.” He said in a softer tone, turning his head to look at you. “I mean, about what happened right before the fire. You know, your—”   
  
Before Dean had a chance to finish his sentence, you grabbed a hold of his arm and with all your might, you yanked him down when you saw something hurdling towards the both of you. You dropped towards your knees, only having a few seconds to realize what was happening. Your eyes glanced up from the ground to see a rather large knife had came hurdling towards your head. It was now lodged inside the wooden cabinet, just dangling around. The spirit must have known what the four of you were doing, and it was trying to stop you from continuing the process.   
  
You watched as another attack was about to happen, but before you had a chance to defy your fate again, Dean lunged off the ground and quickly grabbed a hold of the dining room table, using it as a fortress to keep the handful of other knifes from impaling you. You aromatically flinched, turning your way to keep yourself from seeing the blades come straight towards you. After a few seconds, you looked down at your body to see if there was any damage done from the attack. But you free from any agonizing pain or stab wounds. You turned your head up to see that the knife's had gotten stuck inside the wood. You let out a sigh of relief and allowed your body to calm down from the moment of panic.   
  
Dean threw the table out of the way and got himself up from the floor. He put a hand in your eyesight, you grabbed a hold of it and allowed him to pull your body up with ease. Both of you looked around the room and waited for another attack, but nothing seem to came. In the silence that had fallen, your ears happened to pick up the sounds as if someone was kicking on the upstairs floor. You turned your head and looked at Dean, both of you seemed to have been thinking the same thing about who was causing the noise.   
  
Both of you bolted toward the staircase, rushing up as fast as you could. If this spirit was gaining access towards objects to try and get all of you hurt or killed, you didn’t want to leave Sam alone for too long. You ran up the stairs almost two at a time. You made it towards the top and followed the faint noises of someone gasping for air. You ran into the master bedroom to see that Sam was lying on the ground, his hands wrapped around his throat as he struggled to get a wire from his neck.   
  
You heard Dean shout his brother’s name as he followed behind you into the bedroom. Both of you dropped towards Sam’s side as Dean desperately tried to pull off the wire. But the spirit was stronger than him. You tried yourself to at least try to get some pressure off as you watched Dean from the corner of your eye. He grabbed the small bag and jumped up from the ground. He began to kick into the wall hard enough that just after a few tries he got a big enough hole to throw in the last bag.   
  
Seconds later a bright light shined through, you had to drop your head and shield your eyes to keep yourself from going blind. You waited a few seconds when you noticed that everything went dark again. You opened your eyes and looked at Sam where he still laid. He was trying his hardest to get back the precious oxygen he was cut off from just moments ago.   
  
You quickly began to try your hardest to get the wire undone so he could breathe normally. Dean was now at your side again as he leaned over, grabbing Sam and lifting him up into a sitting position so you could get the wire untangled. You frantically loosened up the makeshift noose and threw the wire towards the ground. Sam began to breathe more normally again, allowing himself to take deep breaths as he laid in Dean’s arms. You sighed to yourself, your mind trying to wrap around what happened to all of you and your near death experiences.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You stood next to the table as your eyes observed the downstairs and the mess that had broken out during the fight to get this spirit out of the house. The table was ruined, the refrigerator door somehow managed to open and a few chairs were spread around the place. Moseley stood on your left, you watched as she would subconsciously rub her stomach, bruises were forming after she was pinned against a dresser after trying to do the basement.   
  
After you had Sam back to normal, the three of you headed down to the last level to see how the psychic was doing. She managed to get the bag where it needed to be, but the spirit had her back against the wall right afterward. But after all this commotion, you hoped that this spirit was put to rest.   
  
“Are you sure this is over?” Sam asked, stopping in his tracks after looking around the place.   
  
All of you looked at Moseley, hoping she had the answer that was burning in the back of your mind. She was quiet for a few moments, turning around to look at Sam. “I’m sure. Why? Why do you ask?” Her face was written with curiosity as she stared at the young man.   
  
“No, never mind.” Sam muttered, looking around the place again as he sighed to himself. “It’s nothing, I guess.” Well, let him be the one for leaving all of you with curious minds.   
  
Before you could try and get the truth out of him, the lights were turned on as you heard the front door shut in the distance. “Hello? We’re home.” You heard Jenny’s voice become louder as she entered the kitchen with her children. She looked around the room, her face dropping into shock at what she was seeing. “What—What happened?” She asked, turning her head to look at Sam as he spoke up first.   
  
“Hi, sorry.” Sam said, turning to look over his shoulder. His gaze landed on the mess of food that was lying on the floor. You didn’t even want to know what happened there when you and Dean were gone. “Um, well—we’ll pay for all of this.” Sam apologized, giving a weak smile at Jenny. You saw his older brother’s face quickly becoming written with confusion, hating to be the one who pays for the damage he caused.   
  
“Don’t you worry. Dean’s gonna clean this mess.” Moseley spoke up, Jenny’s head turned to look at the older woman. Moseley looked over her shoulder and stared at Dean. “Well, what are you waiting for, boy? Get the mop.” She instructed. Dean’s face scrunched up as he walked over to grab what was needed to get things cleaned up. “And don’t cuss at me.” She spoke up again, her tone strict.   
  
Dean immediately stopped and looked at Moseley, slightly taken back. He must have forgotten that she could read people’s thoughts. Both of them stared at one another for a few moments before he turned his head, mumbling a few words underneath his breath before getting the cleaning supplies that was needed to get the job done.   
  
All of you spent an hour trying to get things somewhat back to normal. You left enough money to replace the holes in the wall and for Jenny to buy herself a new dining room table. It was the least you could do after what happened tonight.   
  
You opened up the front door and headed down the porch steps first, Dean and Moseley followed behind as he helped her down as Sam was last in line. All of you headed down and took one last look at the place. Jenny stood in the doorway as a silence had fallen between the five of you. All you did was flash a quick smile before she quietly closed the door and turned off the porch light when all of you walked away and headed back towards your cars.   
  
When your body hit the backseat of the Impala, your first thoughts was how comfortable the seat had felt. This entire trip was exhausting for you. Between the mental stress of being nearly a few yards away from your childhood home and almost dying, you were ready to close your eyes and fall asleep. But Sam, being the one to jump towards worse case scenario, wanted to stay just a bit longer to see if the spirit was really gone.   
  
A few hours had passed as you let out another yawn, trying your hardest to keep your eyes glued towards the home. Your eyelids felt heavy, the idea of closing them and leaning your head against the seat seemed to easy right now. But you tried your hardest to keep yourself sober enough just to see if anything were to happen again tonight.   
  
“So, tell me again—what are we still doing here?” Dean asked, turning his head to look at his brother.   
  
“I don’t know, I-I just—I still have a bad feeling.” Sam admitted. He never took his eyes off the house.   
  
“Why? Missouri did her whole Zelda Rubinstein thing. This house should be clean. This should be all over.” Dean said, continuing to look at the house for a few moments.   
  
Sam shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, probably, but I just want to make sure. That’s all.”   
  
Dean loudly sighed as he leaned himself back in his seat, closing his eyes. “The problem is I could be sleeping in a bed right now.” He complained. His tone was muttered as if nobody could hear him.   
  
All of you only had a few seconds of peace and quiet before Sam spotted something in the second story window. Your head turned towards the house again when Sam began shouting your and Dean’s name. You pressed your face against the glass so you could see better. It was Jenny; she was pounding on her window as she tried calling out for help. You stumbled to get your door open quick enough as you nearly jumped out from the car, following behind the boys as they bolted towards the home.   
  
“You guys grab the kids, I’ll get Jenny.” Dean instructed, slamming the driver’s side door before all of you bolted for the front door.   
  
You ran inside the home and up the stairs as fast as you could. You went into Dean’s old bedroom that was now Richie’s. You ripped open the door to see that things were calm inside his room. Your eyes landed on the small boy that was standing inside his crib, looking at you with a curious look. You smiled at him, trying your hardest to keep your composure as you scooped up the little boy in your arms, cooing words that everything was going to be okay. You rushed out of the room, not waiting to see what was going to happen next.   
  
As you ran down the hall and towards Sari’s room, you noticed that the door was wide open. You approached it closer, but when your eyes landed on a figure that looked to be on fire, your arms wrapped themselves tighter around the little boy. You had little moments to gape at it as as you watched Sam head out of the room with Sari in his arms, trying his hardest not to let the little girl near the flames as he entered the hall.   
  
Both of you ran downstairs once more with the kids inside your arms. You had to put Richie down for just a few seconds, your arms were beginning to ache from the sudden amount of weight. Sam’s face suddenly was written with something that could be only described as shock when he put Sari on the ground. You watched as he bent down and looked at her.   
  
“Sari, take your brother outside as fast as you can and don’t look back.” Sam instructed towards the little girl.   
  
Those words were so familiar. They echoed inside your mind until you slowly put it all together. Your blood went cold when you remembered; those were the exact same thing John said towards Dean on the night of the fire.   
  
Before you had a chance to say anything, you watched as Sam’s body suddenly being dragged across the floor as he desperately tried his hardest to grab a hold on anything. You heard Sari screaming as your heart pounded inside your ears. You knew you should have ran to help Sam, but your body has you grabbing a hold of the kids’ wrists and dragging them outside as they tried to keep up with your running pace.   
  
You were nearly out of breath when you finally approached Dean and Jenny. Your face was written with panic as you looked at Dean.   
  
“Are you okay, baby?” Jenny ran over towards her children. She bent down and engulfed them into a tight hug.   
  
“(Y/N), where’s Sam?” Dean immediately asked, looking around the front yard for his brother.   
  
“He’s inside. Something grabbed him before he had a chance to get out.” You explained, but you're rushed tone made all your words spit out at once. When you turned your head to look, you didn’t have to say anything else when the front door slammed itself shut.   
  
You and Dean didn’t have much time to make much of a plan when both of you headed towards the trunk. He popped open the special compartment, grabbing the salt gun and loading a few bullets as you grabbed a hold of the hatchet that you used earlier. Dean shut the compartment before slamming the trunk back.   
  
Both of you quickly ran towards the front door again and tried your hardest to get the thing to open again. Dean tried kicking it down with his foot as you slammed into it with your shoulder a few times. You quickly yelled at him to get out of the way when you restored towards using the hatchet. You swung a handful of times, barely getting through the wood. It took another few swings until part of the wood began to finally break just enough for the both of you to see inside of what was happening.   
  
“Sam!” Dean shouted, trying to make sure his brother was okay. But from the sounds of things crashing around the place, that didn’t seem to leave a good feeling inside the both of you.   
  
You began to swing even harder until the door was just two holes, big enough for you and Dean to sneak yourselves through. You threw the hatchet towards the ground and followed behind the oldest Winchester as fast as you could.   
  
“Sam?! Sam!” Dean yelled. He ran through the home, trying to find his his brother. Both of you were frantically looking around the place as he pulled out the gun for safety.   
  
You finally found the youngest Winchester at the end of the hall; he was pinned against the wall as the figure from before was starting to slowly approach him. Dean’s face was written with shock at what he saw, but it quickly turned to anger when he held up the gun and aimed at the spirit.   
  
“No, don’t! Don’t!” Sam suddenly began shouting.   
  
You turned your head to look at the youngest boy as Dean slightly turned his head, never taking his gaze off the figure. “What? Why?” Dean asked.   
  
The answer that you got wasn’t something you were expecting. “Because I know who it is.” He said in a slightly quieter tone. “I can see her now.”   
  
Her? You thought to yourself. You watched as the figure slowly transformed itself into someone that you haven’t seen in well over twenty years—Mary Winchester. Dean seemed to be the one that was most in shock. He just stared at her figure as his body froze. You automatically placed your hand on his arm, lowering the gun as his body began to slightly shake. His eyes never left his mother’s ghost that stood right in front of him.   
  
Everything was quiet for a few moments between all of you. The boys were probably trying to wrap their minds at what was happening. You were in shock yourself. You had to admit Mary was like a second mother to you; even though you’d known her for the short two years, there was found memories in these walls. She would always spend time with your own mother and watched you during the weekdays while both of your parents were at work. Seeing her in the flesh, it was so…strange.   
  
“Mom?” Dean finally spoke up. His eyes were glazed over as he tried to make sense of what was happening. He had always wanted to see his mother just one last time. He finally was getting his wish.   
  
Mary slowly approached Dean, a smile spread across her face as she stared at her oldest son. “Dean.” She said. They just stared at one another for a few moments until she turned away and walked over towards Sam. The youngest Winchester slightly smiled, he finally was able to see his mother in the flesh for the first, and only time. “Sam.” She said. A small laugh escaped his throat, he finally heard the word that he dreamed of. Suddenly you saw his emotions change, tears welled up in his eyes, knowing it would also be the last.   
  
Your heart was slowly breaking as tears began to prick your eyes. These poor boys; Dean was finally having the chance to see the woman that was his inspiration to fight the monsters and find out what had killed her and take his revenge on the monster he had yet to find. But still, everything about that night was bubbling to the surface. There was no way for him to ignore the feelings that he tried to hide for those twenty-two years.   
  
And Sam; the boy was only six months old when his mother died, but he always wondered what she looked like. Photographs and old home movies could only do so much for a human mind to create a proper image. You noticed he was trying to take every single detail about her face, just trying to make sure he never forgot it.   
  
“I’m sorry.” She said. Her smile slowly faltered towards a look of guilt.   
  
“For what?” Sam asked. Both of them just stared at one another for what felt like ever. Sam’s eyebrows furrowed together, his face dropping into a mix of hurt and confusion. It was as if he knew what his mother was going to do next.   
  
You watched as Mary slowly walked away from the three of you, turning her back so she was now facing the opposite wall. Her head turned up towards the ceiling as she began speaking towards the other spirit. “You, get out of my house.” She commanded. “And let go of my son.”   
  
Suddenly, Mary’s body burst into flames as they went from the floor towards the ceiling. You slightly turned away from the sudden rush of heat that rushed towards you. When you turned to look again, she was gone for good.   
  
Sam gasped out when his feet touched the floor again, his body was now free from the invisible hold that was keeping him against the wall. You knew that he was okay, but you were worried about Dean. He glanced around the room like a small child, trying to look for his mother once again.   
  
“Mom?” He quietly whispered out, looking around the home.   
  
You watched as the boys took a few steps, glancing around the room as they tried to look for their mother, but she was nowhere to be seen. You sighed to yourself when you saw their faces. Hurt, confusion, sadness, grief? It was all rushing through their minds.   
  
Dean turned his head to look at his brother, sadness written in his face. “Now it’s over.” Sam muttered to himself.   
  
You couldn’t help yourself for what you were about to do next. Out of everything that happened tonight, you needed to make it known that you were here for them. Even though they weren’t for showing affection; you walked over towards them and reached out your arms, trying your hardest to wrap them around their bodies as you engulfed them into a tight hug. Their bodies stiffened at the random hug, but seconds later you felt their arms wrap around your waist and just stood there in silence for a few moments.   
  
“It’s going to be okay. I promise.” You said. Your tone was soft, but you tried your hardest to sound somewhat cheerful. You looked up and gave the boys a faint smile, but their faces were still written with a sullen glare.

\+ + +

Morning had fallen just a few hours ago; your ears perked up to the sounds of birds chirping as you noticed the sun was starting to peak out through the cloudy sky. You sat on the porch steps with Sam as he observed something in the distance. You knew he was still upset at what he had to witness last night, and knowing him, it would take another break down until you could force it out of him.  
You noticed that Dean was standing by the car, going through old photographs Jenny had found somewhere in the house. He flicked through a few of them before bending down and placing them in the wooden box that it was found in.  
  
“Well, there’s no spirits in there anymore. This time for sure.” You looked over your shoulder to see Moseley walking out of the house. Her tone sounded chipper as she walked down and sat on the second step with Sam as she placed her purse down.  
  
“Not even my mom?” Sam asked, his tone sounded almost childlike.  
  
Moseley looked at Sam with a sadden face, shaking her head. “No.” She simply said as a small silence fell between the three of you.  
  
Sam shook his head, as if he was trying to wrap his mind at what happened last night. It took another few seconds until he spoke up again. “What happened?”  
  
“Your mom’s spirit and the poltergeist energy, they canceled each other out. Your mom destroyed herself going after the thing.” Moseley explained.  
  
“Why would she do something like that?” He asked, staring at the psychic with confusion written on his face.  
  
You leaned over and placed a hand on his shoulder, you gave him a weak smile. “To protect her boys, of course.” You said, trying to cheer him up. But it seemed to have done the opposite. Sam turned his head and stared at the ground. You quietly sighed to yourself. You sat up straighter and removed your hand from his shoulder.  
  
Moseley thought for a few moments of what to say to the boy. She tried herself to reach an arm over and touch the boy, but she hesitated for a few moments, retracting her arm and placing it back in her lap. “Sam,” She paused for a few seconds before saying. “I’m sorry.”  
  
That seemed to have broke his concentration, he turned his head and gave the woman a confused look. “For what?” He asked.  
  
“You sensed it was here, didn’t you? Even when I couldn’t.” She said, observing his face for a few moments.  
  
Sam tried to think of a response, he sucked in a breath as he was about to respond. But he turned his head again and tried to think of another one. He finally looked at Moseley, and spoke up. “What’s happening to me?” He asked, his voice sounded small.  
  
“I know I should have all the answers. But,” She said. She shook her head as she quietly sighed to herself. “I don’t know.”  
  
“Sam and (Y/N), you ready?” Dean shouted, breaking all of you from the conversation. You turned your head to see the oldest Winchester was standing next to the car, waiting for the two of you to join him once more.  
  
You nodded your head as you stood up, giving Moseley a smile before following behind Sam and headed towards the car. You said a quick goodbye towards Jenny as she walked to the house, she was making sure to say another thank you. The woman’s life could go back to normal and raise her family like she needed to, like she deserved to.  
  
“Don’t you kids be strangers.” Moseley said. She stood next to Jenny as they both looked at the three of you.  
  
“We won’t.” Dean said, still standing next to the driver’s side.  
  
As you were about to slide into the back, she spoke again. “See you around.” Moseley shouted as Jenny waved once more before finally disappearing into the house. She boys gave small smiles before getting into the car. You were about to join, but something stopped you into your tracks.  
  
You looked over your shoulder as your eyes dropped towards the house that you haven’t stepped near towards in almost twenty years. You bit the inside of your cheek as you mentally debated with yourself with what to do. After a few seconds, you backed away from the car and slammed the door shut.  
  
“Hey, what are you doing?” Dean asked. He stuck his head out from the rolled down window, his eyes filled with confusion as he watched you walked up towards the driver’s side of the car so he could see you clearly.  
  
“There are a few loose ends I need to tie up.” You explained, shoving your hands inside your pockets. You glanced over your shoulder at the two-story house that sat right across the street for a few moments, you turned back to look at the boys. “I should only be gone for about an hour. Grab breakfast or something and I’ll catch up with you two.”  
  
Dean was quiet for a few moments as his mouth slightly was left open, as if he was trying to think of a response to get your mind off the thing you were about to do. He quietly sighed to himself and spoke up after a few seconds of silence. “No.” He said. You rolled your eyes, waiting for his excuse, but what he said next wasn’t what you were expecting. “Sam and I’ll grab a motel and crash there for tonight. We’ll look for a new case and be on the road by Monday. I think all of us need a bit of a break, right?” He flashed you a small smile, you just nodded your head and weakly smiled back. “Are you gonna be okay by yourself?”  
  
“I don’t know.” You admitted, shrugging your shoulders. “But I know that I need to do this alone.”  
  
The boys mumbled a quick goodbye as you took a few steps back, watching the Impala slowly drive off into the distance until you couldn’t see it anymore. You sighed to yourself, turning your body around until you saw the house again. You walked up towards it until you lingered by the mailbox. You noticed the for-sale sign and the nonexistent form of life that seemed to have lingered around the place. Which meant it would be easy for you to sneak in and take a peek around the place for just one last time.  
  
Your body felt suddenly so heavy; it was as if you were carrying an extra weight as you took the first step towards the house. Everything looked the same from the last time you saw it when you were just four years old; a for sale sign stuck in the grass and all of your belongings gone from your childhood home. You could almost picture your mother’s old car sitting in the driveway with all the belongings that she wanted to keep. The rest would be left for the new family that decided to buy this place.  
  
You walked up towards the front door and tried to ignore your urge to just walk into the house like you still owned it. You didn’t think that knocking would be right either since obviously no one lived in the house. So, you sucked in a breath and reached for the door handle, surprising yourself when you felt it move and the door push open with ease. You stepped inside the house and let your eyes gaze around the first story as memories began to flood your mind.  
  
A smile spread across your lips when you began to remember the afternoons spent running around the place and having imaginary tea parties with your stuffed animals. But then there was the few times when you had a few accidents that caused you to cry your little eyes out and had your parents cooing words of encouragement that you were strong. A simple kiss towards the forehead and a bandage on the wound would make you as good as new. Your smile faltered as you stepped farther into the house, if only the problems you had been facing now could be fixed as simple as a scraped knee.  
  
You stepped farther into the home until you found yourself in the kitchen, a place the entire family had spent. Cooking was another big thing that your parents had shared a passion for. You noticed the same tacky furnishings; oddly colored appliances and hideous wallpaper. Either nobody lived here for long enough to redo the place or someone really loved the 80s.  
  
You began to slightly remember the time you would make terrible music with pots and a wooden spoon as your parents would make bake goods. The smell of homemade pies and cookies filled your mind as you couldn’t help yourself but suck in a deep breath, trying to make yourself believe that the place smelled like it. But instead, all you breathed in was a mix of dust and something like mothballs.  
  
You spent a little while longer downstairs, going through the rooms and recollecting small memories that sparked your mind when you ran your fingers on the walls. Soon enough, you found yourself upstairs, standing at the beginning of the hallway. You wandered around until you stepped inside your old bedroom.  
  
The walls were still painted a too bright pink that made you slightly cringe at your taste of colors from when you were a small child. You turned your head to look at the wooden door frame. You noticed the height markings were right next towards the scuff mark you made when you were three. You and Dean had been playing catch with a rather hard ball. You accidentally missed when he tossed the ball to you. The consequence was a lecture from your mother of how to “play like a lady.”  
  
You walked a bit further until you stepped inside the closet, you turned on the light from the string that lingered above your head. You looked around for a few moments until you found what you were looking for. You took a few steps forward until you dropped and sat on the floor. Your eyes landing on the markings that you made when you were much younger.  
  
Your fingertips traced the outline of the boys’ initials and your own on the bottom. You and Dean thought it would be a fun idea to make one last attempt to keep memories inside this house before you headed off towards your new one. Never did you think twenty years later you would actually have had a chance to see it again. You smiled slightly to yourself, you were glad you had one last chance to capture a good memory.  
  
Sighing quietly to yourself, you knew what was going to be your next and final stop. You stood up and sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm your racing heart as you stepped out of the closet and headed for the hallway again. Suddenly your hands felt clammy as you began to remember that night. The yells from your mother to stop and the only thought of wanting your father to wake up. He would smile at you and tell you that everything was okay. That everything that you were about to witness was just a nightmare and everything would be okay. But, it never happened like you always hoped.  
  
You stepped in front of the closed door and tried your hardest to get the courage and open the door. You sucked in another breath and opened up the door, hearing the sounds of the squeaking fill up your ears as you heard your footsteps on the wooden floors when you stepped inside the room.  
  
Everything looked strange from the lack of furniture you had always grown used to seeing. You walked around and just looked at the place. You stopped in the middle of the room and decided to just sit and reflect on things for a while. This was going to be the last time you’ll ever come back here, so might as well make it worth it.  
  
“Hi, Dad.” You spoke out loud, a small smile spreading across your face. You knew it might seem silly to some that you were going to talk to someone that might not even be here. You just needed to pretend that someone would listen to you. Someone like your dad would, and you could ignore all the words that would come immediately after from a real person. Your fingers twisted around a loose piece of string on the end of your shirt as you continued talking. “It’s me, (Y/N). I know it’s been a long time since we last spoke. But I needed to talk to you after what happened last night.”  
  
Tears slowly began to prick your eyes, suddenly you felt so stupid doing this. You knew why your mother had to leave this place. Because finally facing your grief after so long was the worst thing that you had to endure. “I like to pretend that you and Mom are in heaven. Happy and in love. You know, the way that things were supposed to be…before everything burn to shit.” You muttered, reaching up a hand to wipe away the tears that began to roll down your cheeks. “Everyone keeps dying or getting hurt. First you, then Mom. Poor Sammy’s girlfriend was killed a few months ago. And then just last night the boys had to witness their own mother die again. When is it going to get any easier?”  
  
You hated when you got into these type of moods when all you would do is focus on the negative and feel so weak. You tried to make yourself think of all the lives that you had saved with the boys. The smiles you had while being out on the road and enjoying the freedom of not living in a house. But you couldn’t get yourself to change the mood. All you wanted to do was curl up on this floor and bawl your eyes out, hoping that your mind would just shut down and you could somehow pass out into a deep sleep that you’ve been needing.  
  
A silence had fall in the room as you pressed your knees towards your chest. You didn’t care about the tears that were now rapidly falling down your face. Why were you feeling so vulnerable right now? Of all the things that you’ve seen these past six months, this was the thing that was going to set you off? It seemed like everything that you were trying to hide suddenly came bubbling to the surface. You couldn’t hide it anymore with a simple smile and sleep. You needed to come clean with yourself and just feel everything before starting all over again.  
  
You spent a little while just sitting on the ground, staring off into space. You heard the sound of the door opening and two pairs of footsteps slowly enter the room. You knew who it was, but you didn’t bother to break your concentration on the wall. From the corner of your eyes, you watched as each of the boys took a seat on each side of you as the silence fell back again. And that’s how you stayed for a while, just sitting on the floor and not saying a single word to each other. And that’s all you needed.  
  
\+ + +  
  
After leaving the house and saying your final goodbyes, you and the boys headed towards the motel that all of you would be staying at. It was in a town right out of Lawrence, no one knew any of you, and it was a spot good enough to take the weekend and catch up on some needed rest. You had your own room, but you decided to spend some time in the boys’ room, just lying on one of the beds and listening towards the sounds of Dean typing away on the laptop, probably looking for a new case and Sam watching something on TV. The sounds around you started to make you nod off to sleep, you wanted to stay up, but soon enough you found yourself dozing off into some much needed rest.  
  
The boys didn’t seem to notice that you were passed out, they continued on with what they were doing. Dean shut the laptop after an hour of researching through strange cases when a yawn escaped his mouth. He decided it was time for a quick nap before grabbing something to eat. After what all three of you had been through these past few days, it was time for a little fun.  
  
Dean got up from the table that he was previously occupying and headed over towards the bed that you were lying on. He leaned down and lightly pushed your body, expecting you to turn around and say something. But you didn’t move. He pushed you a few more times, even calling out your name to get you awake. His anger was slowly rising, all he wanted to do was sleep, and you were in the way.  
  
“(Y/N), come on.” He muttered. “I’m tired. Get up.”  
  
It took a few more tries, but you managed to get yourself somewhat conscious. You heard Dean calling your name, you blinked a few times and moved away any hairs that fallen in your face. “What?” You asked, not sure what he was saying. “What’s wrong?”  
  
“I’m tired, that’s what’s wrong. Get your butt up and go to your own room.” Dean said, his tone was dull as the look on his face.  
  
You rolled your eyes and just rolled over on the other side of the bed, ignoring his protests. You cuddled up deeper into the pillows and closed your eyes. “You snooze, you lose.” You simply said, ignoring the protests that he was giving out. He began whining like a child, demanding that you get up and go to your own room.  
  
“Will you two shut up? I’m trying to sleep.” You heard Sam mumbled, tossing towards the other side of the bed while closing his eyes again.  
  
“Tell (Y/N) to move her butt out of my bed. I paid for these. I think I have a right to sleep in it.” Dean argued.  
  
“You didn’t pay for these.” You reminded him, your words muffled into the pillow. “Some poor soul is having to pay the bill because of that dumb credit card scam. Which, you got caught for.”  
  
“That was months ago.” Dean said. “And whatever, just move. I’m tired and you’re taking up the one place I really want to be right now.”  
  
You rolled over on the other side of the bed and gave the Winchester a smile. “Okay, I’ll move. But, on one condition.” Dean furrowed his eyebrows as he crossed his arms over his chest, wondering what you were about to say. “I’ll leave you two alone if…you let me drive the Impala, just once.”  
  
“Hell no! I’m not letting you anywhere near my baby.” Dean nearly shouted, looking at you as if you had grown a second head. You knew how protective he’d get over his precious car. All you wanted to do was take it out for a quick spin, that’s all. You knew Sam had the chance to ride the car a few times, you wanted to test your luck and see if Dean would allow you an opportunity. But it seemed that he wasn’t in the sharing mood.  
  
So with that answer, you rolled over on the bed and snuggled yourself into a comfortable position. “My room key is in the jacket pocket. But I have to warn you, the couple next door are quite noisy.” You heard him grumble something underneath his breath.  
  
“I’ll think about it.” Dean said, taking off his shoes and getting himself ready for bed. “Now get your ass to your own room and get some sleep yourself. If I let you drive, I want you at least somewhat conscious. Your bags are getting bags underneath them.”  
  
“Wow, you know how to make a girl feel special.” You said in a sarcastic tone. You rolled out of the be and grabbed your own shoes that were previously sitting next to the nightstand. You said a quick goodbye towards Sam, as he mumbled something. He was just minutes away from falling asleep, he waved a hand for you to leave him be.  
  
You went over towards the small table and grabbed your jacket. You looked over your shoulder to see that Dean had crawled into bed, not bothering to change out of his day clothes. It was a few seconds until you heard him finally stop shuffling around. You turned your head back and looked down at the table, your eyes growing a bit wider with glee at what you saw. The keys to the Impala. It took you only a few seconds to make a decision. You snatched them and shoved them inside your pockets without any of the boys noticing. If Dean were ever to find out, he would probably murder you after he hunted you down. But you were ready to take your chances.  
  
Your stomach violently growled as you headed out of the motel and shutting the door behind you. You didn’t know the last time you ate something. So you decided you would be doing the boys a favor by swinging by the store and grabbing a quick bite to eat. Booze and burgers, Dean couldn’t stay mad at you when you showed up back at the motel with them in your hands. You just had to make one quick stop before going anywhere else.  
  
You walked up towards the Impala, a grin spread across your lips as you observed the model. This was probably your only chance you’ll ever be able to do this, might as well make it worth it. You opened the driver’s side door and slipped yourself inside. Your fingers ran across the dashboard as your eyes slowly wandered around to see the box of tapes that Dean had hidden around here somewhere. You bent down and found it sitting underneath the passenger seat. You pulled it out and flicked through a few until you found one that you had grown to love. You sat back up normally and put the tape inside the player. Finally, you put the key into the ignition and let the engine’s purr ring in your ears.  
  
“God, that’s so satisfying.” You muttered to yourself. You weren’t much for cars, but the Impala’s noise always made you feel like it was the best noise in the world.  
  
You turned on the radio and let the band’s music fill your ears, you put the car into park and slowly put your foot on the gas petal. You pulled out of the motel and drove off towards the road, deciding to make a quick stop back in Lawrence again before stopping at a restaurant for a late lunch. There was someone you wanted to meet just one more time before leaving the state once more.  
  
\+ + +  
  
It took only an hour of driving before you saw Moseley’s home come into view. She had mentioned before that your mother had gone to see her when you were two years old. How she looked at you, there was something she wasn’t telling you. And with your curious mind, you needed to know more about what was happened. Your mother certainly never gave you answers.  
  
You parked the car on the sidewalk, right across from the house. You took a few deep breaths and stepped out of the car. You checked yourself in the reflection of the mirror, running your fingers through your hair before heading towards the porch steps. You walked up them and knocked a few times, waiting a few moments to see if she would answer. But nobody came towards the door, you decided to just step inside and wait, wondering if she was with a client for a reading.  
  
You opened up the door and walked inside, trying your hardest to be quiet when you heard the sound of two different voices. You recognized the first one as Moseley, but the second one was male that you somewhat made out. You stepped a bit further into the place and curiously peeked to see who she was talking to. When your eyes landed on the man that was sitting on the couch, your jaw clenched up with a sudden rush of anger.  
  
It was the same man that the boys have been trying to reach for almost months now, searching endlessly, yet finding nothing. And here he was. He must have been here the entire time while his poor sons had to witness the fiasco that went down in that house. John Winchester.  
  
Everything that you had wanted to say when you heard that voice mail, suddenly disappeared when you felt two eyes jump on your lingering presence. “(Y/N), what are you doing here?” You heard Moseley speak up. You turned your head and gave her a confused look, not registering what she had said. “I only saw you a few hours ago. Is something wrong?”  
  
You shook your head, turning your head to look at her while you flashed a weak smile. “No, I wanted to see if you were free to talk about something personal. But I see you have company…” You said, your voice trailing off. “It’s not that important. Like some people.” You muttered the last sentence underneath your breath as your eyes trailed over towards John.  
  
You know you shouldn’t be speaking like that towards that man that had looked after you ever since your mother died. He could have just left you and made you fend for yourself like anyone else would have. But he made sure to check up on you almost every month for all these years. But the idea of him abandoning his own sons for all these months without even a phone call to them, it made a sick feeling sit inside your stomach.  
  
“What the hell are you doing here, (Y/N)?” John suddenly spoke up. His tone and demeanor had changed in a blink of an eye. You turned your head and looked at him, an eyebrow raised up from his tone. You knew John raised his boys with an iron fist and demanded respect, but him trying to control you made a small laugh escape your throat.  
  
“Well, I was helping your children look for you. You know, the ones that you haven’t spoken to in almost six months.” So, your brain wasn’t connecting with your mouth. But you didn’t quite care at the moment.  
  
“You shouldn’t be here. You need to be home, where it’s safe.” John argued, his tone was becoming louder. You watched him as he stood up from the couch, giving you a disapproving glare. “ Your mother didn’t raise you to be a hunter. And I’m sure she wouldn’t want to be acting like one.  
  
“I never said I was one. I don’t want to be one, either.” You lied. “The only reason why I joined the boys was because I wanted to make sure that you were safe. Is that so bad?”  
  
“You know what I’ve been doing. I just need to know what killed Mary and track down the thing that killed your mother.” John said, all though his tone had gotten lower, it still was hard and strict. “But I can’t do it knowing that you’re out there, risking your life.”  
  
“Demon.” You corrected him, a glare spread across your face. “A demon killed my mother.” With those glowing yellow eyes, you thought the last part to yourself. “You told me yourself that they could take over anyone. So if it really wanted me dead, wouldn’t it have tracked me down killed me already?”  
  
John let out a sharp sigh, rubbing his hands over his tired face. “You’re so much like your mother; bullheaded and stubborn for your own good.”  
  
“I might be stubborn, but I’m trying to help.” You said. “That says a lot more about me than you right now.”  
  
Before John had another chance to argue with you, you turned your back towards him and walked straight out the front door. Your body was shaking with anger as you headed to the Impala and ripped open the driver’s side of the door. You slid yourself in and slammed the door shut once more.  
  
It took a solid ten seconds to realize what you had just said. You let out a sharp sigh as you placed your head into your hands. You were an idiot. You had no right to say those mean words to the man that was just trying to protect all three of you. Of course he knew that his sons could handle the job, they were raised for this kind of thing. But you, you were just some newbie that still had a lot to learn about everything supernatural. No matter how much you kept saying it to yourself, you were slowly starting to come comfortable with the idea of becoming a hunter.  
  
You wanted to learn everything there was to this lifestyle. From trying to memorize all of the supernatural creatures towards the training that you needed to know to defend yourself. Everything about it made you fascinated and feel strong. And that wasn’t something you had felt in a very long time.  
  
The sounds of your cell phone ringing caught you off guard. You shoved your hands inside your pocket and looked at the caller id; Dean. You sighed to yourself, you flipped it open and pressed it towards your ear. “Hello?” You asked in the happiest tone you could muster.  
  
“Goddamn it, (Y/N)!” Dean nearly shouted over the phone, loud enough to the point where you needed to move the phone a few inches from your ear without you going deaf. “Where the hell is she!?”  
  
“What are you—”  
  
“You know what I’m talking about! Where is the Impala?” Dean cut you off. “I looked to see that my keys were missing and you gone for the past two hours. You had me worried sick thinking something happened to you!”  
  
You looked over at the house for a few moments, not sure what to say. “I-I’m back at my old house.” You lied once more. “I thought just one more look wouldn’t hurt, you know?” What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.  
  
Dean’s tone quickly changed. “(Y/N), just leave it. Nothing is going to change…He’s not coming back.”  
  
“I know. I know.” You muttered, your eyes looking down as you inspected the tips of your nails. “Look, I should be home in about an hour. I’ll pick up dinner, my treat.”  
  
“Okay…but you’re still not off the hook.” Dean said, his tone becoming slightly hard again. “You had me worried sick.”  
  
You laughed slightly at that. “Yeah, yeah. I’m sure you were more worried about me crashing your precious car. Look, I’ll be home soon, okay?”  
  
Both of you exchanged a quick goodbye before you closed your phone and put it back inside your pocket. Guilt crept inside your stomach when you looked at the house just one more time. You knew if the boys knew you saw their father and never told them it would kill them inside. But you couldn’t risk the chance for John to finally get closure that he’d been wanting for the past twenty-two years. So, you turned on the engine and drove away, pretending as if this never happened.


	9. Asylum.

It had been like any other night spent in a motel room; your back was pressed against a stack of pillows as your mind focused on the fictional world of the book that you had been reading. You tried not to pay attention to what the brothers were doing in fear that would reveal what you had saw back in Kansas. But seeing them use all the leads that could think of and falling short made guilt creep inside your stomach.   
  
Your eyes glanced up from the book as you turned towards another page; Sam was still on the phone with an old contact. He was sitting on the edge of his own bed as Dean was at the table, flipping through his father’s journal for what have felt to be the third time tonight. You tried your hardest to ignore the scenery as you read the first few words on the next chapter, but you found yourself slowly becoming lost into Sam’s conversation that was becoming wrapped up quicker than he planned.   
  
“No, Dad was in California the last time we heard from him.” Sam said towards the person over the phone. That’s a lie. “We just thought if he goes to you for munitions, maybe you saw him in the last few weeks” There was a small pause, you watched as he face stretched into doubt again. “All right. Just call us if you hear anything. Thanks.”   
  
“Caleb hasn’t heard from him?” Dean asked, looking up from the journal for a few seconds. His brother shook his head as he closed his phone. Dean dropped his gaze back down as he began reading again, trying his hardest to hide his disappointment as he looked for clues that could lead them to their father in his beloved journal.   
  
“Nope. Neither has Jefferson or Pastor Jim.” Sam answered. He turned his attention towards his father’s journal. “What about the journal? Any leads in there?”   
  
“No. Same last time I looked. Nothing I can make out.” He admitted. Dean slightly chuckled as he flipped towards another page, his lips twitched into a small smile. “I love the guy, but I swear, he writes like freaking Yoda.”   
  
A small silence fell over the three of you until Sam suggested an idea that didn’t leave a good feeling inside of you. “Maybe we should call the Feds, file a missing person’s.” Sam said.   
  
You quickly ripped your focus away from the book at that idea, your face written with doubt. “Seriously? Your dad would be pissed if we put the Feds on his tail.” You said, tilting your head to the side, giving him a look that read: You should know better.   
  
“I know.” Sam muttered. He looked down at his feet. “After all that happened in Kansas, he should have been there. You said so yourself. I mean, Dean tried calling and nothing.”   
  
You just nodded your head as you closed your book when you heard your cell phone ringing. You jumped off from the bed and went towards your bag that had been sitting at the edge of the bed. You grabbed it and threw it on the comforter, trying to ignore the fighting that was just about to begin from the brothers, like always. One would doubt that their father was still alive and the other would make sure to keep the hope going. You only listened this time, not bothering to choose a side anymore.   
  
“You know, he could be dead for all we know.” Sam said. You froze in position when you heard the youngest Winchester speak a thought that must have ran through your mind a few times. But hearing it out loud make your stomach turn in knots. You knew the truth and you were making the poor boy suffer. What a good friend you were.   
  
Dean’s head quickly whipped up from the journal, his face becoming tense at the thought. He gave a cold glare towards his brother. “Don’t say that.” He snarled, sitting up straighter. “He’s not dead. He’s, he’s…”   
  
“He’s what? He’s hiding? He’s busy?” Sam mocked. His eyebrows arched up, waiting for a proper answer.   
  
"Play nice, boys.” You reminded the brothers in a motherly tone. You looked over your shoulder and gave both of them a stern look. “Don’t make me separate you two.”   
  
They muttered something underneath their breath as you went back to digging through your dirty clothes to find the damn cell phone that kept ringing. You searched threw a few scraps of clothes until you finally found it. You flipped it open to see what had been causing all the noise. What you saw wasn’t something you hadn’t expected. It was a text message from an unknown number. But the most confusing thing about it was the message that you read.   
  
42, -89. This is the last time. Be careful.   
  
“What?” Dean’s voice brought you back towards reality. You ripped your gaze away from the screen and gave him a confused look, not sure what he was saying to you. “What are you staring at with such fascination?”   
  
“It’s a—a text message.” You said, closing your cell phone and shoving it back into your pocket. “Coordinates, to be exact.” You made sure to leave out the last part to keep unwanted questions from rising.   
  
“Do you think it’s Dad?” Dean asked. His voice was full of hope as he leaned out his chair. He watched you like a hawk, trying to read your body movements for answers.   
  
“Maybe.” You said, forcing a fake smile. You got off from the bed and search through your bag until you pulled out your laptop. You headed over towards the table where Dean was sitting and placed it down as you took a seat next to him. “I don’t understand why he would text me a location, though.”   
  
“Do you think it’s for research?” Dean wondered. You shrugged your shoulders and pulled up a map to plug in the coordinates to see where they took you.   
  
Before you had joined the Winchester brothers to find their dad (that quickly turned into you tagging along into joining the “family business.” All though, none of you had said anything about it.) You had helped them on cases when it came to finding out the history of a town or a monster they were hunting. At first it was just a safe job for a teenager wanted to do something while you were left along one summer in that big house. Years later, you had turned into one of their valuable helpers.   
  
You spent about fifteen minutes going through a few news articles on the coordinates that lead you to a small town. There had to be something here that intrigued John enough to think it would make for a good case. You had went through a handful of articles until you found a recent one that sparked your interest.   
  
“Do you think Dad was really texting us?” Sam wondered. He was now standing up from the bed, his gaze fixed on you and Dean as both of you hovered over the computer.   
  
Dean looked up from the computer and shrugged his shoulders. “He’s given us coordinates before.” He said, referring towards one of the first cases that all of you had worked on together.   
  
“The man can barely work a toaster, Dean.” Sam argued. He gave his brother a serious look. But Dean still wasn’t going to give up on the idea.   
  
“Sam, this is good news.” Dean said, giving his brother an annoyed look. “It means he’s okay, or alive.”   
  
“I don’t know, what if it’s not a job for us? He texted (Y/N), after all.” Sam pointed out. “He doesn’t know that she’s with us.”   
  
“Yes, he does. I mentioned that she was when I called him.” Dean said. “He’s probably pissed at us, but what could have I done? She’s persistent at getting what she wants.”   
  
You didn’t know if that would be considered an insult or a compliment.   
  
Sam scoffed at Dean’s remark and turned his attention towards you. “Was there a number on Caller I.D.?” He asked out of curiosity.   
  
“It said ‘Unknown.’” You admitted. “So, it’s not much help for us.”   
  
Sam breathed loudly through his nose, placing his hands on hips as he looked at you for more answers to find out what was going on. “Okay, well, where do the coordinates point?”   
  
“That’s the interesting part.” You said, glancing up from the screen to look at both of the boys. “Rockford, Illinois.”   
  
“Okay, and that’s interesting how?” Sam asked, not sure what you were trying to get at.   
  
“I checked the local Rockford paper. Take a look at this.” You turned the laptop so the boys could take a peek at what you had been reading. Sam headed over and bent down to take a look at the screen as Dean leaned in a bit closer. “This cop, Walter Kelly,”   
  
You pulled up a bigger picture of the officer; he looked to be a happy man in his police uniform with a grin plastered on his face. But what he did wasn’t the actions done from a sane person. “He comes home from his shift. Shoots his wife, then puts the gun into his mouth, blows his brains out.”   
  
Sam was obviously intrigued to see what else you had to say about this case. He took a seat next to his brother and waited for you to continue on with the story. “Earlier that night, Kelly and his partner respond to a call at the Roosevelt Asylum.”   
  
“Okay, I’m not following.” Sam interrupted. “What does this have to do with us?”   
  
You reached for the journal that Dean previously put down on the table. You had skimmed it a few times before and something about the name of the asylum caught your eye. You opened it and began to flip through a few pages.   
  
“Your dad marked the same asylum in the journal.” You said. You turned towards a page where you saw a cut out newspaper, the one that you had been looking for. “Here. ‘Seven unconfirmed sightings, two deaths’—until last week, at least.” You gestured towards the computer screen as you looked at both boys. “I think this is where he wants us to go next.   
  
Sam scoffed to himself. He got up from the chair and began walking around the room. He placed his hands on his head, running his fingers through his hair. “This is a job.” He muttered, turning around to look at the both of you. “Do you think Dad wants us to work another case?”   
  
“Maybe we’ll meet up with him. Maybe he’s there.” Dean said, looking at his brother. You quietly sighed to yourself, closing the book and placing it back on the table.   
  
“He could be sending us there by ourselves.” Sam said.   
  
“Who cares. If he wants us there, it’s good enough for me.” Dean argued, getting up from the chair and heading somewhere else in the room.   
  
Always making sure to be the leader his father raised him to be. You thought to yourself. The boy never misses a chance to make himself look like the good son, even when John’s not here.   
  
“This doesn’t strike you as weird? The texting, the coordinates?” You asked, shutting the laptop closed.   
  
“(Y/N) and Sam, come on.” He turned around,l to give the two of you a serious look. “Dad’s telling us to go somewhere. We’re going.”   
  
You sighed to yourself as you watched the oldest Winchester grab his coat and car keys. You knew there was no talking him out of this. So without protest, you got up from your chair and put on your own shoes, following behind to head to Illinois like the good fiend you were trying to be. But boy, was it getting harder.   
  
\+ + +   
  
After talking to a few officers at the department where Kelly had worked at, you found out who his partner was and where you could find him. He would be hanging out a local bar like he always did after a stressful night of working. You and Dean decided to see if one of you could somehow get the cop to talk to you. Dean had come up with a plan that didn’t sound so stupid from previous ones he pitched to you. It sounded like fun, for you at least.   
  
You leaned yourself against the bar, watching from the distance as Dean headed over towards the police officer with Sam standing by your side. Both of you were close enough to hear what they were saying and waited until it was the right time to intervene. Part of you just hoped that the plan Dean had come up with would work well enough. He could swoon the ladies, but being polite to authorities was never his strong point.   
  
You watched as he went waltzing right up to the officer, a cocky smile spread across his lips. He lingered around the table for a few seconds, watching as the officer turned his gaze toward him. “You’re Daniel Gunderson, right—the cop?” Dean asked, reaching out a hand to rest it on the empty chair that was vertically across from the man.   
  
“Yeah.” Daniel said, tearing his gaze away from the wall to look at Dean. He didn’t seem very pleased from the lingering presence.   
  
Dean chuckled to himself as if Daniel was an old buddy of his and they just happened to bump into one another. He took this as an opportunity to take a seat in the chair. “I’m Nigel Tufnel with the Chicago Tribune. Do you mind if I ask a few questions about your partner?”   
  
“Yeah, I do.” Daniel said, slightly adjusting himself. You noticed that his body tensed up at the mention of his deceased partner. “I’m just trying to have a beer here.”   
  
“I just want to heard the story in your words.” Dean said. He was trying his hardest to get the older man to spill a few details like any other sleazy reporter hoping to make the front page, but it wasn’t working so well.   
  
“A week ago, my partner was sitting in that chair, and how he’s dead.” His eyes glanced down towards the seat before looking at Dean. A glare was beginning to stretch across his face. “Are you gonna ambush me here?”   
  
“Sorry, but I need to know what happened.” Dean said, letting out a fake laugh as a smile spread across his lips. He was obviously sinking and needed a bit of a push to get this planned started. So, it was your turn.   
  
You got up from the bar and headed over towards the two men, a fake look of anger spread across your face when you locked eyes with Dean. You leaned yourself against the table and pressed your elbow against the wooden top. You turned your head towards Dean, your lips stretched into a smirk.   
  
“Hey buddy, I thought I made it clear to you the first time. Stop harassing my customers with your sleazy questions or else.” You warned, your tone was low and lined with anger.   
  
Dean just looked at you with a face that could be read as humor. “Look, sweetheart, I’m just trying to my job.” He said. A smirk of his own began to curl at the end of his lips. “Now, why don’t you make yourself useful. Grad me a cold beer and let the grown ups talk.”   
  
You rolled your eyes and stood straighter; you looked over your shoulder to wave a finger at Sam to come forward to continue with the plan. You stepped backwards as you watched the youngest Winchester charge forward and rip Dean straight out of is chair.   
  
“How about leaving the poor guy alone, huh?” Sam hissed, his grip wrapped around the edge of Dean’s jacket. He was holding the oldest Winchester by his sleeve as he pointed at Daniel. “The man’s an officer! Why don’t you show a little respect, buddy?”   
  
Dean was nothing more than speechless at his brother’s behavior as he was dragged out with force from the bar. You watched as the brothers head outside to make it look believable. After seeing the door slam shut behind them, you looked over at Daniel and gave him a warm smile.   
  
“You didn’t have to do that.” Daniel muttered, looking down at his empty beer bottle.   
  
“Yeah, of course I did.” You said, turning your head to look at the door one more time to make sure Dean was gone before focusing your attention on Daniel. “That guy’s a serious jerk.” You lied, you watched as Daniel chuckled. “Let me buy you a beer, huh?” You turned your attention towards the bartender, you flashed two fingers at the man as you slipped into the seat that Dean was previously sitting in.   
  
“Thanks.” He said, you nodded your head as you smiled at him. It was the beginning of a wonderful night.   
  
\+ + +   
  
After getting a few beers into Daniel, the information about the asylum seem to have slipped out like he was discussing the weather. You left the bar with the bill paid and a rather large tip for the bartender for letting the little act play out. As you headed out into the nighttime air, your eyes dropped on the brothers that were sitting on the hood of the Impala, waiting to hear what you had learned.   
  
“You shoved me kind of hard in there.” You heard Dean complain towards his brother, putting his hands inside his jacket pockets.   
  
“He had to sell it, didn’t he?” You remarked, walking towards the backseat.   
  
“Huh?” Dean asked, turning around to look at you.   
  
You rolled your eyes. “Never mind.”   
  
“So, what did you find out from Gunderson?” Sam asked, trying to change the subject   
  
“So, Walter Kelly was a good cop. Head of his class, even-kneeled. He had a bright future ahead of him.” You rested the front of your body against the car as you explained what you had learned about the young cop.   
  
“What about at home?” Dean asked.   
  
“He and his wife had a few fights, like everybody. But it was mostly smooth sailing. They were even talking about having kids.” You said.   
  
Everything about this guy made it look like he was completely sane and happy with his life. You wondered what possessed him to murder his wife and then off himself afterwards.   
  
“Either Kelly had some crazy waiting to bust out or something else did it for him.” Dean said, you shrugged your shoulders at his hypothesis. “What did Gunderson tell you about the asylum?”   
  
You smiled at that. “A lot.”

\+ + +

All of you headed over towards the Roosevelt Asylum after talking to Daniel, arriving as the sun was beginning to rise. From where you stood outside, the stone building could make a shiver down anyone’s spine. What horrible things must have happened inside those rooms. You headed up the steps of the building after jumping the fence, something that you were never found of. This time you managed not to make a fool of yourself, even ignoring all the smart remarks that Dean tried to pull. You just rolled your eyes headed up the steps, letting the childish behavior only amuse the oldest one in the trio.

  
A creaking sound fill your ears when Sam opened the front door of the asylum. He stepped inside first, you following behind. Your eyes wandered around the inside of the destroyed interior. Everything around the place looked like it was taken over by teenagers. Graffiti was painted on all over the walls with crushed beer cans littering the floors. This didn’t look like a place where people went to get better all those years ago, that was for sure.   
  
You kicked a beer bottle as you walked deeper into the place, but stopping after a few steps. “So, the cops chased the kids here,” You explained, remembering what Daniel had told you about the night. You turned around to see the room that the kids had disappeared into. “The south wing.” You pointed towards a pair of double doors, reading the sign above it.   
  
“South wing, huh? Wait a second.” Dean reached inside his leather jacket and pulled out the journal. You watched as he mumbled something underneath his breath, flipping through the book until he found the old newspaper article you had been looking at last night. “'1972—three kids broke into the south wing. Only one survived.‘” He read from the article, his eyes glancing up for a quick second to look at the doors before continuing. “The way he tells it, one of his friends went nuts and started lighting up the place.”   
  
“So, whatever is going on, south wing seems like the heart of it.” Sam said, taking another look at the entrance of the south wing.   
  
“But if kids are spelunking the asylum, why aren’t there a ton more deaths?” Dean wondered. He looked down at the journal, as if he expected all the answers were right there.   
  
Your eyes glanced down to see something, your eyebrows furrowed together. A set of rusty chains lying around the door handles, looking as if they had been recently cut. “It looks like the doors are usually chained.” You said, taking a few steps forward towards the door. “They could have been chained up for years.”   
  
“Yeah, to keep people out.” Dean said, heading up towards you with Sam soon following behind. His face slowly struck with another idea. “Or, to keep something in.”   
  
You pushed open one of the doors, allowing the creaking sounds echo to bounce off the walls. You stepped inside and headed down the hall, your eyes wandering around to see if there was anything suspicious lurking around. All of you had fell into a silence while heading down the hall, Dean pulled out the EMF reader to see if he could find any supernatural activity. You had managed dodged a wheelchair that was just lying in the middle of the hall, causing you to fall a bit behind and try to keep up faster with the boys. When you finally managed to get back into sync, Dean decided to crack another joke, aiming it this time at his brother.   
  
“Let me know if you see any dead people, Haley Joel.” Dean joked, chuckling to himself.   
  
“Dude, enough.” Sam muttered. He rolled his eyes and quietly sighed to himself.   
  
“I’m serious. You’ve got to be careful. Ghosts are attracted to that E.S.P. thing you got.” Dean kept going. He took a glance down at the reader, ignoring Sam’s protests or explanation of what was happening to him.   
  
“I told you, it’s not E.S.P.” Sam explained. “I just have strange vibes sometimes, weird dreams.”   
  
“Yeah, whatever. Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Dean muttered underneath his breath.   
  
You rolled your eyes, becoming tired of their sibling bickering. “But you’re the one that brought it—Do you get any reading on that thing or not?” You asked, trying to change the subject.   
  
“No.” Dean answered, looking back down at the reader. “Of course, it doesn’t mean nobody’s home.”   
  
“Spirits can’t appear during certain hours.” Sam reminded his brother.   
  
“The freaks come out at night.” Dean joked. You rolled your eyes, mumbling a comment underneath your breath about his immature behavior. He looked down at you, smirking to himself as he continued to embarrass his poor brother. “Hey (Y/N), who do you think is a hotter psychic? Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Love Hewitt or Sam?”   
  
You shook your head at his horrible attempt of another joke on his little brother. Sam playfully pushed his brother, cracking a small smile as Dean laughed to himself. You chuckled a bit and sighed. You were happy you were an only child to bare the pain of being the butt of sibling jokes and harassment.   
  
All of you headed inside toward a room at the end of the hall to see if there was anything suspicious around there. You stepped inside to see the place was covered in dust and outdated medical equipment. Your eyes landed on a rusting examination chair. Your fingers reached up to touch the leather strap. You wondered how many patients had to be pinned down in order for doctors to do their examinations to “cure” the people of their mental illness.   
  
You heard Dean whistle to himself as the boys headed deeper into the room, his eyes glancing towards the chair that you had been staring at. He tapped on the reader a few times to see if it would work, but still, nothing happened. He tucked it back into his jacket pocket and headed over towards a small table where different sorts of objects laid.   
  
Walking over towards another table, you bent down to look at something that appeared to be a human organ inside a glass jar. Your eyebrows furrowed together in a mix of confusion and disgust. What strange things must have happened in this room. “Man. Electroshock, lobotomies. They did some twisted stuff to these people.” You commented, standing up straighter and looking over at the boys.   
  
“Kind of like my man Jack in 'Cuckoo’s Nest.'” Dean remarked, giving you and Sam a twisted smile. You just rolled your eyes once more as Sam just ignored him. Dean composed himself and brushed off the embarrassment, changing the subject back towards the case. “So, what do you think? Ghosts are possessing people?”   
  
“Maybe.” Sam said, looking around the room once more. “Maybe it’s more like Amityville or the Smurl haunting.”   
  
“Ah, spirits driving them insane, kind of like my man Jack in 'The Shining.'” Dean made just one more joke as he walked over towards his brother. You sighed to yourself, hoping that he was done with his book references.   
  
All of you kept quiet for a few moments; you glanced over at Sam to see that he had been lost in thought, like he was waiting for the right time to bring something important up. He looked at his brother, a sigh escaping his lips as he brought up the subject that Dean wasn’t going to like discussing.   
  
“Dean,” Sam started, taking a small pause when his brother turned around, giving him a look to continue talking. You crossed your arms over your chest, waiting to see what he was going to say next. “When are we going to talk about it?”   
  
“Talk about what?” Dean wondered, his face scrunching up in confusion.   
  
“The fact that Dad’s not here.” Sam muttered out.   
  
You brought your attention over at Dean, you waited his response. He pretended to think for a few moments before answering in a tone that made this conversation sound like it wasn’t as important to him as it was for Sam. “Oh, uh, let’s see, never.”   
  
“I’m being serious, man.” Sam argued. You could tell that he was beginning to become annoyed with his older brother and his childish antics to avoid the touchy topic.   
  
“So am I, Sam.” Dean quickly took place of the leader, making another excuse that sounded oh so familiar from the many times that you or Sam had questioned John’s whereabouts. “He sent us here. He obviously wants us here. We’ll just have to pick up the search later.”   
  
“It doesn’t matter what he wants.” Sam said, trying to make his point clear. But Dean quickly brought the attention back towards him and his own opinion.   
  
“See, that attitude right there,” Dean said. He pointed a finger at his little brother, making this into a small joke, a look of arrogance became written on his face as he spoke again. “That is why I always got the extra cookie.”   
  
“Dad could be in trouble. We should be looking for him.” Sam said, his tone becoming harder. You could tell he was becoming aggravated with how this entire conversation was going. “We deserve some answers. This is our family we’re talking about.”   
  
“I understand that, Sam, but he’s given us an order.” Dean’s tone dropped into a serious one. He quickly changed his demeanor, going back to the older brother—or, the unofficial leader of the group.   
  
“Do you always have to follow your dad’s orders?” You couldn’t help yourself but jump into the argument. You watched as two pairs of eyes jumped on you; one boring straight into your forehead as the other pleaded for to shut up and let them continue on with this conversation.   
  
“Of course we do.” Dean barked at you.   
  
You scoffed at his answer as you walked away, letting the two boys to cool down and see how foolish they were acting. You headed over towards a small table to peak around. You saw something copper from the corner of your eye. You picked it a rectangular metal sign, you squinted to see that it was a nameplate that you would see above the doorway of someone’s office. You grabbed it to take a further inspection, the metal was now rusting and covered in a layer of dust. You ran a hand over the cold metal, letting the debris float into the air.   
  
“Sanford Ellicott.” You read out loud. You turned around and looked at both of the boys, the sign in your hands so they could see it. “You know what we have to do? We’ve got to find out more about the south wing, see if something happened here.”   
  
You headed over towards the brothers so you could slam the nameplate into their hands. You looked up and gave them a serious expression. “I’ll let you two continue with this little conversation for the thousandth time.” You said. “Maybe then both of you will come to an agreement and we can focus our attention on something useful for once.” And with that said, you headed out into the hall to give them a bit of privacy to let them continue this little fight.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You spent the rest of the morning searching around the history of Sanford Ellicott and his family tree. You found out that he had a son that was a psychologist, his practice wasn’t too far from the asylum where his father had worked. You had made a few phone calls around to see if there was an appointment available to see him for this afternoon. You decided it wouldn’t hurt to see if Sanford’s son had any useful information about what happened to his father. And maybe even get a few things off your chest, you might as well get your money’s worth for this session.   
  
You sat in the waiting room couch, your foot tapping against the carpet as you read some outdated magazine you found lying on the table across from where you were sitting. As you were becoming invested in the article that you were reading, someone called out your name. You glanced up to see the psychologist was standing in the doorway with a warm smile spread across his face.   
  
“That’s me.” You said, returning the smile.   
  
“Come on in.” He said, taking a step backwards so you could join him.   
  
You got up from the couch and dropped your magazine towards the cushion for the next patient to read. You followed behind the psychologist as both of you headed towards his office that was just down the hall. You stepped inside the fairly decent sized room with a large window right across from the doorway. Looking around; you noticed that it was set up just like any other office, with a desk pushed up against the wall right next to the door and a small couch right across the room.   
  
You headed over towards the couch and plopped down, as you made yourself comfortable your eyes glanced over towards the desk. You noticed there was a few things hanging above it. Mostly just degrees that he earned from college and pictures of loved ones. A silver nameplate caught your eye, it hung on the lower right side of the wall. What a perfect conversation starter, you thought.   
  
“Thanks again for seeing me last minute.” You said, hearing the door close allowing the two of you privacy. As Dr. Ellicott headed over towards his desk, you decided to make your move. You stared at the nameplate, pretending that it was the most interesting thing inside the room. “Dr. Ellicott? Ellicot…that name. Wasn’t there a Dr. Sanford Ellicott?”   
  
The youngest Ellicott turned around in his seat with his yellow notepad in his hands. He stared at you for a few moments, as if he was trying to figure out what you were getting at. You smiled and pointed a finger at the nameplate. “Yeah, he was chief psychologist somewhere.” You continued.   
  
Ellicott nodded his head, a smile spread across his lips. “My father was Chief of Staff at the Roosevelt Asylum. How did you know that?” He asked, a curious look spread across his face.   
  
“Well, I’m kind of a history buff.” You lied, leaning back in your seat. “Hey, wasn’t there an incident or something in the hospital, I guess. In the south wing, right?”   
  
Before you had your chance to find out some answers from the youngest Ellicot, the doctor didn’t feel like playing along anymore. “We’re on your dollar, (Y/N). We’re here to talk about you.” He said. His facial expression became serious as he stared at you, waiting for you to open up.   
  
“Yeah, yeah. That’s right.” You muttered. You chuckled to yourself, trying to hide your anger.   
  
“So? How are things?” Ellicott asked, trying to get this session towards the right direction.   
  
I’m traveling around the country looking for a man that doesn’t want to be found so he can seek revenge on the thing that killed his wife. But in the meantime, his sons and I are killing creatures that sane people think are just fictional. And this is where it gets fun! Sam is slowly going insane; he’s having nightmares and weird visions that nobody can explain. And Dean isn’t helping at all, just cracking jokes and pretending it’s not a big deal. You know, normal adult stuff.   
  
“Fine.” You said, breaking yourself from your thoughts. You looked over at Dr. Ellicott and smiled, pretending as if you were thinking about something good. “Things are good, doctor.”   
  
“Good,” He said. You watched as he jotted something down in his notepad before looking back up at you. “What have you been doing?”   
  
“Uh…nothing much.” You said. Your eyes trailed around the room, trying to figure out what to say next. “I’ve been a road trip with my two friends. You know, bonding time.”   
  
“Was it fun?”   
  
Your smile faltered for a few seconds when you thought about the past few months. Being in the backseat of the car for hours at a time, the horrible music, the creepy motels and the fact that you’re always putting your life on the line?   
  
“Loads.” You answered, nodding your head. “We did a lot of, uh, interesting things.” You leaned forward in your seat as you sucked in a breath, wanting to try changing the subject just one more time.“You know, what exactly happened in the south wing? I forgot—”   
  
Dr. Ellicot was quick to catch on towards your tactics, making you stop your attempts at drawing out information. “Look, if you’re a local history buff, you know all about the Roosevelt riots.”   
  
“The riot.” You repeated, nodding your head. “Well, no, I know. I’m just curious—”   
  
“(Y/N), let’s cut the bull, shall we?” Ellicott turned around in his seat to place his notepad back on his desk. He turned back around and leaned forward in his chair so he was a bit closer to you. “You’re avoiding the subject.”   
  
You stared at him, blinking a few times as you tried to figure out what the doctor was saying. “What subject?” You asked, dumbfounded.   
  
“You.” He simply said, pointing a finger at you. You swallowed, forcing a smile at the man. “Now, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll tell you all about the Roosevelt riot if you tell me something honest about yourself.” He leaned back in his seat, he continued talking. “Like, uh, these friends you’re road tripping with. How do you feel about spending so much time with them?”   
  
You breathed through your nose as you thought about that question for a few moments. You were paying for this, might as well get your money’s worth. “Well, I’ve known them since childhood, they’re both brothers.” You began, tapping your foot against the floor. “It’s was a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong, but there’s something going on between them. And it bothers me.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
An hour passed after you wrapped up your session with the doctor. You said your goodbyes, leaving the place with more information for the case and a clear mind. You headed out of the building seeing the boys from the corner of your eye. You turned your head and watched as they both leaned themselves off the wall and headed up towards you. Dean was staring at you with an annoyed expression on his face as he approached you.   
  
“Dude, you were in there forever.” He complained, walking up to you so he was on your right. You gave him a look, knowing he was exaggerating. “What the hell were you talking about?”   
  
“Just about the hospital., you know.” You said, trying to leave it at that.   
  
“And?” He asked in a rather impatient tone.   
  
“And,” You said. “The south wing, it’s where they housed the real hard cases. The psychopaths, the criminally insane.”   
  
“Sounds cozy.” Dean remarked.   
  
“Mhmm. And one night in '64, they rioted. Attacked the staff, attacked each other.” You explained.   
  
“So, what, the patients took over the asylum? Any deaths?”   
  
“Some patients and staff.” You said, nodding your head. You stopped at the end of the Impala and turned to face both of the boys. “I guess it was pretty gory. Some of the bodies were never even recovered, including our Chief of Staff, Ellicott.”   
  
“'Never recovered’?”   
  
“The cops scoured every inch of the place, but I guess the patients must have,” You shook your head as you thought about it, a frown stretching across your lips. “Stuffed the bodies somewhere hidden.”   
  
“That’s grim.” Dean commented. The brother’s faces matched your expression.   
  
“So, they transferred all the surviving patients and shut down the hospital for good.” You explained.   
  
“We’ve got a bunch of violent deaths and uncovered bodies.” Dean said.   
  
“Which could mean a bunch of angry spirits.” Sam commented.   
  
“This is gonna be fun.” You muttered to yourself.   
  
“Let’s check out the hospital tonight.” Dean said, you and Sam nodded your head in agreement.   
  
All of you headed back towards the car to drive back towards the motel. There was still more things to be done before all of you went back towards the asylum to get rid of the spirits that awaited you.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You looked down at your watch once more, midnight was only three minutes away. All of you stood outside of the asylum as you waited for Sam to push open the front doors again. You heard the familiar creaking sounds as you glanced up, seeing both boys were staring at one another to see who would go first. You decided to break up their little staring contest and head inside first. After all, your very important job was holding the flashlight to guide you through these empty halls.   
  
You had to admit to yourself that this place at night looked like it was right out of a horror movie. You clutched the flashlight tighter as you heard one of the doors slam shut and two pairs of footsteps approach you from behind. You turned your head up to see that Sam was playing around with the video camera to get it on night vision. Dean pulled out the EMF device to see if he could get any readings, hoping not to have a repeat of this morning when nobody decided to be home.   
  
All of you headed down the halls as a small silence fell once more, the only sounds that could be heard was your shoes crunching on debris and the reader’s buzzing as you turned the corner and headed down another hall. You looked over at the machine to see that it was lighting up like crazy. “You’re getting readings?” You curiously asked.   
  
“Yeah, big time.” He said, looking up from the reader as he glanced around the hall.   
  
“The place is orbing like crazy.” Sam said, never taking his eyes off the small camera screen. You leaned into see that the little white blobs of people could be seen through the night vision. You knew if fact that those blobs were spirits hiding around the place, just waiting to pop out and make their presence known.   
  
“There’s probably multiple spirits out and about.” Dean said. He watched as the reader buzzed away, the red lights kept going up and down as all of you headed deeper into the asylum.   
  
“And if these uncovered bodies are causing the haunting?” You asked, amusing yourself.   
  
“We gotta find them and burn them.” Dean explained. He glanced around the hall before you and Sam.   
  
“The only thing that makes me more nervous than a pissed off spirit is a pissed off spirit of a psycho killer.”   
  
You couldn’t help yourself but a feel bit more on edge as all of you headed further into the hall. There was psychopaths, mentally ill and just pissed off souls roaming around the place. Even though you haven’t seen one just yet, you wondered what they did when they decided to come out and play.   
  
A cold breeze brushed behind you causing all of you to stop dead in your tracks. Your fingers wrapped around the handle of the flashlight tighter. You looked over your shoulder to see if there was someone behind you like you suspected, but nobody was there. You decided not to stick around to see if the spirit was going to pop out. You immediately took your spot in front again, feeling a bit more at ease as all of you headed deeper into the place once more.   
  
As you walked around, you found yourself turning another corner of the hall to investigate the room. Sam followed behind you as Dean kept going on straight, leaving the two of you alone. There wasn’t much to see except for abandoned medical equipment and scrapes of objects that were covered in a thick layer of mold or dust.   
  
You looked over to see that Sam was walking around the room, scanning every inch of the place to see if he could pick up anything that looked like a spirit. The place had to be crawling with them. You wondered if when you finally see one appear would they attack you like they had been in the past. But when one finally appeared, it wasn’t something you had expected.   
  
While you examining something across the room, a loud gasp broke you from your concentration. You quickly turned around and flashed a light on something that was standing right in front of Sam. You saw that it was a small woman wearing a hospital gown, her hair and body was filthy from what you presumed to be was a mixture of blood and dirt.   
  
“Dean!” Sam shouted, never taking his eyes off the spirit. “Shotgun!”   
  
You heard the sound of Dean’s boots stomping on the ground as he came running into the hall. He dropped the duffel bag towards the floor and aimed the salt gun that was previously at his side. “Get down!” Dean yelled, getting ready to shoot the spirit.   
  
Sam fell backwards towards the floor before Dean pulled the trigger and shot at the spirit. You flinched at the sudden booming noise, you closed your eyes and waited. After a few seconds of silence and the ringing in your ears going down, you opened your eyes to see that the spirit was gone. You let out a sigh of relief, heading over to Sam so you could help him up from the ground. He grabbed a hold of your awaiting hand and got up on his feet.   
  
“That was weird.” Sam muttered, looking around the room.   
  
“Yeah, you’re telling me.” Dean said. He turned around and headed over towards the other side of the room to fetch the bag that had previously dropped.   
  
“No, Dean, I mean,” Sam followed behind his brother. “It was weird. It didn’t attack me.”   
  
“It looked pretty aggro from where I was standing.” Dean commented. The oldest Winchester wasn’t catching on towards what Sam was trying to explain, so he tried again.   
  
“She didn’t hurt me. She didn’t even try.” Sam explained, shadowing his brother as they both walked. “If she didn’t want to hurt me, then what did she want?”   
  
But before anyone else had a chance to continue the conversation, your ears perked up the sound of what you presumed to be someone whimpering. All of you looked at one another with confusion. You turned your head to see it was coming from the right next to you. You turned on the flashlight and stepped inside the room, Sam and Dean followed behind.   
  
Dean pointed the gun at the cot that was turned on its side, hiding whatever was behind there from your vision. You slowly approached the bed with caution, the sounds were beginning to get louder. You sucked in a deep breath and reached out a hand to pull the mattress down. You counted down from three in your head before you ripped down the fortress to reveal the stranger.   
  
You nearly jumped out of your skin when you heard the sound of a female scream fill the tense air. You flashed the light on a blonde girl that couldn’t be much older than a teenager. She was curled up on the floor, trying to block out the light, you were quick to notice that her face was stricken with panic when she saw the three of you.   
  
“Hey, it’s all right. We’re not gonna hurt you. It’s okay.” You said, a small smile spread across your lips as you tried to keep a calm tone. “What’s your name?”   
  
The girl slowly got up from the ground, never breaking her concentration on the three of you. “Kathrine. Kat.” She answered.   
  
“I’m (Y/N). This is Dean. And that’s Sam.” You said, pointing at both of the brothers. “Now, care to explain what you’re doing here in the middle of the night?”   
  
“Uh, my boyfriend—Gavin.” She tried to explain, but he cut her off.   
  
“Is he here?” Dean asked.   
  
“Somewhere.” Kat explained. “He thought it would be fun, try and see some ghosts. I thought it was all just…you know, pretend.” She wrapped her sweater tighter around her waist as she stared at something in the distance. Her voice dropped into a whisper as he continued talking. “I’ve seen things, I heard Gavin scream, and—”   
  
“Alright, Kat, come on. Sam and (Y/N) are gonna get you out of here.” Dean said. He bent over to move the bed out of the way so she could step out. “Then we’re gonna find your boyfriend.”   
  
“No, no.” She protested, shaking her head. “I’m not gonna leave without Gavin. I’m coming with you.”   
  
“This is no joke. It’s dangerous.” Dean warned her.   
  
“That’s why I have to find him.” She argued.   
  
“Alright, I guess.” You muttered, letting out a sigh. “We’re gonna split up. Let’s go.”   
  
You decided to head off on your own to cover more ground Dean and Kat went off as Sam followed in your steps, going off by his own. The building was large and Gavin could be hidden anywhere. You just wanted him to be found as quickly as you could. This place gave you a sick feeling inside your stomach, as much as you didn’t want to admit it to yourself and the others around you.   
  
As you headed around the empty hall, you nervously gulped, on edge as you waited for something to pop out. You called out Gavin’s name until your throat it felt raw. All you heard in return was your own echo bouncing off the walls. You sighed, flashing around the light to see if there was someone around here that resembled a human boy. But with each turn that you took, you weren’t getting any closer.   
  
You called out Gavin’s name one more time as you headed down another hall. You glanced around the place, shining the light on the floor to see if you could to find any evidence to find this boy. Your eyebrows furrowed as you stood in your tracks, your light began to flicker rapidly. You cursed underneath your breath as you began to furiously tap on the thing, hoping it was just because the batteries were beginning to die. You were caught up in trying to get the thing to work, you didn’t seem to notice a hand touch your shoulder from behind.   
  
You jumped out in fright, quickly turning around to be greeted by Dean and Kat. “Son of a Bitch, give a girl a warning next time!” You grumbled out, continuing to tap your flashlight. Your eyes glanced down to see that his wasn’t working either. “Seems like I’m not the only one having trouble around here.”   
  
“It’s all right. I got a lighter.” Dean said, digging inside his jacket pocket and pulling out one.   
  
You heard it click a few times until you saw an orange flame lighten up a bit of the room. It was good enough get around the place without stumbling into each other.   
  
“Ow. You’re hurting my arm.” You heard Kat say, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. You and Dean weren’t even close enough to the girl to be in touching distance. Both of you gave one another looks before turning around to face Kat.   
  
“What are you talking about?” Dean asked.   
  
She looked over at him, her face dropping into panic when she realized that someone else was touching her. Dean leaned over, flashing the lighter at her arm to see what all of you had suspected. A floating hand was wrapped tightly around her arm, and it looked like it wasn’t going to let go anytime soon.   
  
In a blink of an eye, an invisible force dragged the girl into a cell room that was right across from you and slammed the metal door shut behind. Her screams of protests echoed in your ears as you and Dean quickly rushed over to help her before the fear of someone getting hurt would come true.

\+ + +

Pounding on the metal door and Kat’s pleas to get her out of the cell was the only thing that you could concentrate on at the moment. You had ran towards the door with Dean quick by your side. Both of you wrapped your hands around the handle and tried to pull it open with all of your might. But it seemed that no matter how hard either of you tried, nothing was going to get the door open.

  
Dean decided to take another approach, he grabbed something from the other side of the hall that looked to be a crowbar. You took a step backwards so he could take a swing at the damn door that seemed to be bolted shut with whatever force that had it on lock down. You called out to Kat to stay calm, hoping that nothing serious was going in there when you heard the pounding on the door stop for a few seconds.   
  
You placed your hands back on the handle again, even though your skin felt raw to the touch against the cold metal. You would try to pull on it while Dean placed the crowbar into the crack and wedged his weight to see if that would somehow pop it open. Both of you tried your hardest again to get it unstuck, just pulling and grunting out as all your energy was put into a job that was starting to seem impossible. When you heard a scream erupt from Kat, you immediately knew something was in there with her. You just hoped it wouldn’t end up in worst possible scenario.   
  
“What’s going on?” You turned your head to see Sam was running down the hall towards you, a boy following behind. You noticed that he wasn’t much older looking than Kat. It must be her boyfriend that had been previously missing.   
  
“She’s inside with one of them.” You quickly explained, tugging at the door one more time before stopping. You had to take in a deep breath in as you kicked the door in anger. “If only this damn door would open!”   
  
Adrenaline began to pump through your veins, you pushed yourself to try harder. All you began to hear was pleas from Kat and Gavin screaming her name in fright, not sure of what was going on towards his poor girlfriend.   
  
“Kat, it’s not gonna hurt you.” Sam shouted. He stood next to the door, trying his hardest to get the girl to become stable in order to figure out what was going on. From what was happening,you had suspected a spirit was in there with her. And she wasn’t taking too kindly towards her new guest. “You have to face it. You have to calm down.”   
  
“She has to what?” Dean asked. He stopped in his movements, turning his head to give his brother a peculiar look.   
  
“I have to what?” Kat yelled, her voice lined with panic at the plan.   
  
“They’re trying to communicate. You’ve got to face it.” Sam explained.   
  
“You face it!” Kat screamed out, like the teenager that she was.   
  
“It’s the only way you’re gonna get out of there. Come on. You can do it.” Sam tried to reason with the young girl just one more time.   
  
All of you fell silent when you heard her movements against the floor and her yelling stop. It felt like forever just standing there, waiting for something to happen, in reality it had only been half a minute until someone spoke up, breaking the tensed air.   
  
“I hope you’re right about this.” Dean muttered, loud enough for only you and Sam to hear.   
  
You looked at Sam, seeing his face wasn’t quite sure that this might have not been the best plan of action. He swallowed and looked at both of you. “Yeah, me too.” He admitted.   
  
It was another minute until something happened. The sounds of the door unlocking was like music to your ears. All of you took a few steps backwards to let the metal door swing open. Your eyes landed on Kat; she stood in front of the doorway, a blank stare written across her face. Gavin ran towards her, embracing his girlfriend into a tight hug as he whispered her name in a comforting tone. Sam quickly stepped inside the room to check it out to see if the spirit was still there, you and Dean stood outside, getting ready to join him, until you heard Kat whisper something.   
  
“137.”   
  
You quickly turned your head to look at the girl, not quite sure you heard her right. “Sorry?” You asked.   
  
“It whispered '137.'” Kat said, her face was written with a dumbfounded expression, as if she was trying to figure out what it meant.   
  
The boys and yourself stood quiet for a few seconds, wondering why the spirit would have said something like that. You thought about it for a while, but you heard the brothers say the answer in synch. “Room number.” They said, looking at one another with eyes open a bit more wide.   
  
Dean walked over towards the duffel bag that laid on the floor, crouching down as he got the stuff together. You and Sam followed in the older Winchester’s actions. “So if these spirits aren’t trying to hurt anyone—” Sam began, but Dean cut him off. “Then what are they trying to do?” Dean questioned, still packing up the belongings that had spilled out on the floor. “Maybe that’s what they’ve been trying to tell us.” Sam said.   
  
“I guess we’ll find out.” Dean said, looking at both of you as you nodded your head. All of you got back up to your feet as you turned your attention towards the two teenagers standing across from you. “So, now, you guys ready to leave this place?” He asked.   
  
“That’s an understatement.” Kat admitted, letting out a sigh of relief with the idea of finally getting out of the asylum. All that it had been for her and Gavin was a nightmare, and it was finally time to put this entire adventure to rest.   
  
“Okay. You guys get them out of here.” Dean said, turning his attention towards you and Sam. “I’m gonna go find 137.” And with that; you watched as he turned on his flashlight before he began to walk down the hall, the shotgun dangling in his right hand.   
  
You looked over towards the two teenagers, a smile spreading across your lips as you lifted up your own flashlight. You turned it on, allowing the florescent light guide you through the halls the best that you could. Sam stood by your side as the other two were in the back. All of you fell into a silence for most of the walk, but as you got closer towards the entrance, Kat began to ask questions about you and the boys.   
  
“So, how do you guys know about all this ghost stuff?” She curiously asked.   
  
Sam was quiet for a few moments, as if he was thinking of a proper answer. “It’s kind of our jobs.” He said,   
  
“Why would anyone want a job like that?” She kept going. You had to shake your head. They didn’t exactly choose this lifestyle, it sort of was forced upon them. You were just along for the ride until it was time to get off.   
  
Sam softly chuckled to himself as he looked at Kat. “I had a crappy guidance counselor.” He joked towards the girl.   
  
“And Dean? He’s your boss?” Kat asked one more question.   
  
“God, no.” You answered with a snort. “Of course, he likes to think he is.” You mumbled the last part to yourself as all of you headed down the hall, falling into another silence until you found the entrance come into sight again.   
  
All of you headed towards the double doors, quickly ducking underneath ripped sheets of fabric that hovered above from the ceiling like cobweb. You ran towards the doors with Sam in hopes they would burst right open. Both of you tried pushing on them, but the idea of getting out was gone when you realized that they were locked with no chance of them opening up. You sighed in frustration as Sam tried the windows, hitting the glass with his fist. But still, it wouldn’t budge. Sam quietly sighed to himself.   
  
“All right. I think we have a small problem,” Sam admitted, turning around to look at the teenagers.   
  
“Let’s break it down.” Gavin suggested. He pointed towards the doors.   
  
“I don’t think it’s gonna work,” You said, letting out a breath of frustration.   
  
“Than a window.” Gavin tried again.   
  
Kat rolled her eyes in annoyance. “They’re barred.”   
  
“Then how are we supposed to get out?” Gavin asked, his tone rising a bit.   
  
You thought about it for a few moments, suddenly the idea of tonight’s events were slowly making sense. You looked at Sam, both of you seemed to have been thinking the same idea. “That’s the point. We’re not.” Sam said to no one in particular. “There’ s something in here. It doesn’t want us to leave.”   
  
“Those patients.” Kat said, you shook your head.   
  
“No, that’s not it. Something else.” You said,   
  
And you had an idea who wanted all of you to stay just a little while longer. A certain doctor that had caused all these spirits pain. They must have been trying to tell Sam and Kat where his body was so they could get the man gone. He must have caused them so much harm in their first life, you wondered if he kept doing it in their life beyond the grave and all the people that dare to enter this asylum. You just hoped that no one was going to be his next “patient.”   
  
Sam decided take a look around the place to see if there was any chance that there was another form of exit. You were left alone with Kat and Gavin to look over. You were beginning to worry when you looked at your clock, the time ticking away with no boy in sight. When you heard the sound of footsteps echoing off the walls, you looked up to see Sam walking towards you. The look on his face didn’t keep your nerves from settling down.   
  
“I’ve looked everywhere. There’s no way out.” Sam admitted, turning off the flashlight and stopping at your side. You sighed in annoyance, shaking your head.   
  
“What the hell are we going to do?” Gavin asked, his tone of voice was lined with anxiety that even you could feel.   
  
“For starters,” You said, turning your head to the boy. “We’re not going to panic.”   
  
“Why the hell not?” He questioned. You gave him an expression to shut up.   
  
When you heard the sounds of someone’s cell phone ringing, you looked around to see whose it was. It turned out to be Sam’s. He dug inside his pocket and fished it out. “Hey.”He answered, pressing the phone against his ear.   
  
“Sam, it’s me.” You could hear the voice on the other end where you were standing, it was Dean. And by the sound of his voice, something was happening. “I see it. It’s coming after me.”   
  
“Where are you?” Sam asked, his face jumping into surprise.   
  
“In the basement. Hurry.” The other end began to break up, but you heard it clear enough towards what Dean was trying to say.   
  
“I’m on my way.” Sam closed his phone shut and tucked it back into his pocket. He turned his attention towards you. Without a warning, he threw the shotgun into your hands. You stumbled to catch it, but you managed to grab it without it dropping towards the floor and making yourself look like an idiot. “Think you can keep an eye on these two?” You nodded your head.   
  
“But wait, what are we gonna do if you need my help?” You asked, panic rising in your voice as you thought about Dean hunting this spirit alone.   
  
Sam turned his head to focus his attention at the two teenagers. “All right. Can either of you handle a shotgun?” He asked, looking at both of them.   
  
“W—What?! No!” Gavin admitted, looking at Sam as if he grew a second head.   
  
“I can.” Kat said, You and Gavin gave her a look of surprise, she didn’t seem like a girl that would be interested in guns. “My dad took me skeet shooting a couple times.” She said, shrugging her shoulders.   
  
“If (Y/N) needs to leave for any reason, she’ll give you the gun for safety. It’s loaded with rock salt.” Sam explained. “Now, it might not kill a spirit, but it will repeal it.” He looked at you, pointing towards the gun that rested in your grip. “So if you see something, shoot.”   
  
“Sam, this is not my first time. I got this.” You said, rolling your eyes. You nodded your head for him to get moving when you saw him still standing there “Go!”   
  
Sam sucked in a breath before turning around towards the hall and began to run where his brother was. You couldn’t help yourself but let out a deep breath of your own, cocking the gun back as you looked at the two teens that you would be keeping an eye on. You could feel the fear written in their faces, Gavin looked like a poor mess. You smiled weakly towards the boy. You got this, you thought.   
  
All of you kept quiet as you waited for something to happen or someone to return. You leaned against the wall, Kat was crouching on the floor as Gavin was pacing around the room like a nervous wreck. You decided to let Kat hold the gun to make her feel a bit safer. You looked down at your watch and quietly sighed, what was taking them so long? You debated with yourself to check up on the boys to see if they were okay, but what happened next made you change your mind.   
  
“Hey, Gavin?” Kat called her boyfriend over. The boy headed straight over, bending down so he was at eye level with her. “If we make it out of here alive, we are so breaking up.”   
  
You couldn’t help yourself but chuckle at the two, shaking your head as you tried to hide a smile that grew on your lips. “Smart girl.” You muttered to yourself.   
  
But the good mood was ruined by the sounds of something banging in the distance. You whipped your head around to see there was a shadow lurking around the corner, it was growing with each step that it took towards you.   
  
“Something’s coming.” Kat whispered.   
  
Gavin and her stood up from the ground, you were beginning to regret giving her the gun leaving you with nothing to defend yourself with. When you saw the thing pop out from the corner, your eyes landed on someone that you didn’t expect—Dean.   
  
But Kat must have thought it was a spirit because next thing you knew you were ducking for cover as she fired the gun. Your ears rang from the blast as you felt your head throb from accidentally hitting it against the wall to get out of harm’s way. You cursed underneath your breath, quickly composing yourself.   
  
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” You heard Dean curse before shouting at all three of you. “Don’t shoot! It’s me!”   
  
“Sorry.” Kat apologized, shrugging her shoulders as she weakly smiled at you. “Sorry”   
  
Dean finally came out from the corner when the coast was clear. He examined the hole in the wall, you noticed that if Kat shot just a little bit more towards the right, it would have been aimed perfectly at his head. You couldn’t help yourself but sigh in relief.   
  
“What are you still doing here?” Dean questioned towards the teens. He then turned his attention towards you. “Where’s Sam?”   
  
“He went to the basement. You called him.” Gavin answered for you.   
  
“I didn’t call him.” Dean said, shaking his head.   
  
“His cellphone rang. He said it was you.” Kat went on.   
  
Dean kept quiet for a few moments, looking at all of you. “Basement, huh?” You nodded your head. You watched as Dean bent down to grab something that looked like a pistol from the duffel bag. He tucked it somewhere on his body and looked at the two kids. “(Y/N) is coming with me. Watch yourselves.” When you took one step forward, Dean spoke up one more time towards Kat. “And watch out for me.” You rolled your eyes, pushing for him to start walking.   
  
Both of you headed deeper into the asylum until you were at the basement level. All you could see was the small amount of light that was coming from the flashlight and Dean’s body in front of you. You and Dean kept calling out for Sam, hoping that he would come out from where he had headed towards. There was something about this level t that gave you a wrong feeling inside your stomach. Hell, this entire place gave you the creeps.   
  
“Sam!” You yelled for what felt to be the tenth time. “Sammy!”   
  
“Sam, you down here?” Dean called out, looking around every inch of the place. But still there was no sight of his brother anywhere just yet. “Sam!”   
  
“Sam!” You tried one more time, turning your back to see if he had been around the corner that you just passed. When you turned around, you screamed in surprise and Dean jumped a bit at who was standing in front of both of you, Sam.   
  
“Man.” Dean muttered, lowering the shotgun. “Answer me when I’m calling you.”   
  
“You alright?” You asked, observing his face to see if he was hurt.   
  
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He answered, laughing slightly at how protective you were being.   
  
“You know that wasn’t me who called you, right?” Dean asked towards his brother.   
  
Sam nodded his head. “I think something lured me down here.”   
  
“I think I know who—Dr. Ellicott.” Dean answered. “That’s what the spirits have been trying to tell us. You haven’t seen him, have you?”   
  
“No. Do you think it was him?” Sam asked, titling his head to the side.   
  
“Yeah. Because I found his logbook.” Dean explained. “Apparently, he was experimenting on his own patients. Awful stuff. Makes lobotomies look like a couple of aspirins.”   
  
“But it was the patients that rioted.” Sam said.   
  
“The patients were rioting against Dr. Ellicott.” Dean corrected his brother. “Dr. Feelgood was working on some sort of extreme-rage therapy. He thought if he could get his patients to vent their anger, then they’d be cured of it. Instead it only made them worse and worse and angrier and angrier. I’m thinking, what if the spirit is doing the same thing?”   
  
“You think his spirits did it to the cop and the kids in the 70s?” You asked. “Somehow, he was making them so angry they became homicidal?” Dean nodded his head as you breathed loudly through your nose. You were beginning to realize more and more that this was one messed up spirit. It needed to be taken down, and fast.   
  
“Come on.” Dean said as he started walking forward again. “We got to find his bones and torch them.” You followed behind, but Sam only turned around and watched you two.   
  
“How? The police never found his body.” Sam said.   
  
Dean stopped walking, he turned around and looked at his brother. “The logbook said he had some hidden procedure room down here where he’d work on his patients. So, if I was a patient, I’d drag his ass down here and do a little work myself.”   
  
Sam didn’t seem to be into the idea. He gave his brother a look. “I don’t know. It sounds kind of—”   
  
“What, crazy?” Dean mused himself.   
  
“Yeah, exactly.” Sam muttered.   
  
You began walking again when you saw that Dean had found a door, he scoped around the room to see if there was anything inside before stepping in. You stopped for a second and looked over your shoulder at Sam. The look his face didn’t seem right. He just stared at you with something that could be described as anger. You kept your gaze on him for a few moments, trying to figure out what was wrong. When you heard Dean call your name, you stepped behind. A few seconds later, you heard Sam’s footsteps as he approached you and Dean.   
  
“I told you I looked everywhere. I didn’t find any hidden room.” Sam said, taking a few steps inside the room.   
  
“Well, that’s why they call it hidden.” You muttered underneath your breath.   
  
All of you kept quiet for a few moments, a strange sound like wind whistling. Your eyebrows furrowed together. “You guys hear that?” Dean asked, you nodded your head.   
  
“What?” Sam asked. Maybe it was your mind playing tricks on you, but you began to wonder if the youngest Winchester’s entire demeanor was changing.   
  
You tried to ignore your thoughts as you headed over towards the wall that was across from you. You flashed your light on the bottom, noticing that it looked rather odd from the rest of the concrete wall. Dean bent down and placed his hand in front of it.   
  
“There’s a door here.” Dean said, feeling a breeze touch the palm of his hand through the bottom crack in the wall.   
  
“Do you think he’s hidden in there?” You wondered, taking a step back as you looked around to see any more small openings. But before you had a chance to get your answer, you heard something in the background that didn’t leave a pleasant feeling in you.   
  
“Dean, (Y/N).” Sam called out. You looked over your shoulder to look at Sam, but your eyes dropped towards the shotgun that was pointed towards you and Dean. “Step away from the door.” 

\+ + +

The Sam Winchester standing in front of you and Dean wasn’t the same man that had walked into this place. There was something darker that had changed his demeanor. Your eyes landed on a small trail of blood that oozed from his nose. He quickly wiped it away with his other hand. Something was messing with him.

  
Dean got up from the ground, his gaze jumping from the shotgun towards his little brother. He didn’t seem quite phased at what was happening, unlike you. “Sam, put the gun down.” He warned.   
  
“Is that an order?” Sam asked. A small smirk spread across his face. He was acting as if this entire situation was just a joke to him. Like it was an ordinary thing to be pointing a gun at his brother and friend. Like he wanted to do it without regretting the decision if the gun just “happened” to go off with you or Dean in the way.   
  
“It’s more of a friendly request.” Dean said, his gaze dropping towards the gun again as he lifted up his hands higher into the air to give his brother a sign of defeat.   
  
“I’m getting pretty tired of taking your orders.”Sam hissed. You watched as he lifted the gun up higher, pointing the barrel directly at Dean’s chest.   
  
“I knew it.” You blurted out after you had figured out what could have been causing this change. Sam directed towards his attention towards you. His stare was cold; it was as if you had butted into a very important conversation. “Ellicott did something to you, didn’t he?”   
  
You nervously swallowed as you saw the position of the gun shifted towards your view, you had to remind yourself again that the man standing in front of you would never hurt a hair on your head. The real Sam was in there, fighting to get out and stop this before it would get worse. But what he said next struck a nerve in you.   
  
“For once in your life shut your mouth. This isn’t about you.” He ordered. “And stop butting into conversations that aren’t about you.”   
  
“What are you gonna do, Sam?” Dean asked, drawing the attention back towards him. “The gun’s filled with rock salt. It’s not gonna kill us.”   
  
It seemed that Sam was feeling a little trigger happy because next thing you knew, you were stumbling backwards as you heard the sounds of the gun going off. Sam had aimed the gun at Dean’s chest and fired. The pressure was hard enough to send him straight through the wall and landing on his backside. You didn’t have much time to think about the consequences when you were stumbling back on your feet, ignoring the other Winchester that was standing in front of you with the gun. You knew he was waiting for the right moment to shoot you too. But you didn’t care, you were ready to take your chances.   
  
You jumped through the wreckage and saw Dean just lying on the ground. He wasn’t moving when you called out his name a few times. You crouched down towards his body and pressed two fingers against the crook of his neck, sighing in relief when you heard the sound of his pulse beating away. He was going to be badly bruised, but he was alive.   
  
“Come on, Dean.” You muttered, trying your hardest to think of anything to get the man to come back into consciousness. “Time to wake up.” You tapped his face a few times with the palm of your hand as you used the other to keep his face steady.   
  
You heard something that sounded like a scoff from behind you. You looked over your shoulder to see that Sam was staring at you as he rolled his eyes. The gun was dropped towards his side as he took a few steps forward to you. “How typical.” He muttered to himself, but you heard it clear enough. His tone was venomous.   
  
“Excuse me?” You asked.   
  
“You always go running back to him,” He simply said.   
  
Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as you stood back up. “Is there something you want to tell me, Sam?” You asked. You weren’t sure if he was hinting at something you had not been made aware of. Your fear was slowly subsiding, changing into curiosity You wanted to know more from this new side of Sam.   
  
Sam chuckled to himself, as if he had thought of a funny joke that he was about to tell you.“You try so hard to prove yourself to him that you’ve got a backbone. You always pretend to knock him down when his head gets too big. But you always end up doing what he tells you to do.” Sam said, A smirk spread across his lips. “Dean’s got you trained so well.”   
  
“Look who’s calling the kettle black.” You remarked. You bit your tongue to keep yourself from saying something that could make him angrier, but it just started to spill out before you had a chance to catch yourself. “You know, it’s funny. You dropped everything at the drop of a hat when Dean showed up at your front door step.” You said. ”No matter what you say, you’re the one that chose to come here and stick around for the cases that Dean wanted to do. You sure as hell give up easily, don’t you?”   
  
“Shut up.” Sam hissed. “I came here because I didn’t want you alone when Dean got caught up in some case that my dad sent him to do. I couldn’t stomach the idea of losing someone else to this lifestyle.” He shook his head, his lips twitched into a frown as he glanced over at his brother. “No, I can’t let him hurt anyone else.”   
  
Suddenly, you heard the sounds of a gasp that quickly turned into a mix of coughs and groans. You turned your head to see that Dean was waking up now. He clutched his chest in pain as he sucked in his first deep breath, but it looked like he was regretting that decision. “Sam.” Dean called out as his little brother took a few steps forward to the both of you. “We’ve got to burn Ellicott's bones, and all of this will be over. And you’ll be back to normal.”   
  
“I am normal. I’m just telling the truth for the first time.” Sam said, looking down at his brother. He was now towering over Dean, the gun pointed again at him. “I mean, why are we even here? ‘Cause you’re following Dad’s orders like a good little soldier? Cause you always do what he says without question? Are you that desperate for his approval?”   
  
“This isn’t you talking, Sammy.” You said, your tone becoming sharp “Snap out of it before you do something you’ll regret.” But he just ignored you.   
  
“That’s the difference between y'all and me. I have a mind of my own, unlike the two of you. I’m not pathetic.” Sam taunted,   
  
“So what are you gonna do?” Dean asked. “Are you gonna kill me.”   
  
“I am sick of doing what you tell me to do. We’re no closer to finding Dad today than we were six months ago.” Sam went on.   
  
“Well, then here.” Dean said. He reached inside his jacket to pull out something. You eyes widened when your eyes landed on the silver pistol that he had grabbed earlier. “Let me make it easier for you.”   
  
“Dean, what the hell are you doing?” You shouted. You watched as he lifted it up and waved it around a bit. “Put it away.”   
  
“Come on. Take it.” Dean said, ignoring your protests “Real bullets are gonna work a hell of a lot better than rock salt. Take it.”   
  
Sam stared at the gun for a few moments, as if he was debating with himself of what to do. When you heard the shotgun drop towards the floor, you knew he had made up his mind. That look on his face; it was like he his dreams were coming true. He took a few steps forward more towards his brother. Sam snatched the gun out of Dean’s hands. In just a few seconds flat, his hands were wrapped around the pistol as he pointed it directly toward his brother’s forehead.   
  
“You hate me that much?” Dean whispered. “You think you can kill your own brother? Then go ahead. Pull the trigger.” You just stared at Sam, waiting for his next move. His finger was resting on the trigger, as if he was waiting for another push. And that’s what Dean did. “Do it!”   
  
Everything felt like it went into slow motion; you watched in disbelief as you saw Sam’s finger pull back on the trigger. You closed your eyes and waited for the shot….but it never seem to have came. You opened them back up to see that Dean was okay. Sam froze in his spot, not sure of what to do next. So, he tried again. And again. But nothing happened each time.   
  
Dean took it as an opportunity to take control of the situation; he grabbed Sam by both of his hands and punched him straight in the jaw, making Sam fall towards the ground. It gave Dean enough time to get himself off the ground with your help. You bent down to help Dean up as he struggled to get himself back to normal with the pain from the previous gunshot. He slowly took a few steps towards his brother, watching as Sam tried his hardest to regain his composure from the blow.   
  
“Man, I’m not gonna give you a loaded pistol.” Dean said. He walked over towards his brother that was now crawling on the floor, trying his hardest to reach for the gun he dropped. Dean bent down and punched Sam right in the jaw again, hard enough to make the boy blackout. Guilt spread across his face. “Sorry, Sammy.” He muttered towards his brother’s unconscious body.   
  
“You okay?” You asked, watching as he got back up, grunting out in pain. He clutched his chest, but he just nodded his head. You didn’t feel like fighting for a better answer from him right now. You just wanted to burn the doctor’s bones and have everything back to normal.   
  
Both of you headed in different directions of the secret room in hopes of covering more ground to cut down on time spent in this place. You walked around the room with a flashlight in one hand and a shotgun in the other. The only thing that you saw where abandoned medical equipment that was rusting and covered in all sorts of filth. Nothing about this place screamed for a perfect hiding spot to stuff a body somewhere. Torture, now that would be a possibility when you examined all the belongings that were left over.   
  
As you walked deeper into the place, you were beginning to lose hope that either of you were going to find anything. When you ripped a curtain away, your attention was pulled away towards the sound of Dean calling your name. You turned around, not bothering to even take a look inside the place, but little to your knowledge that the doctor was closer than either one of you realized as his spirit lurked around the basement.   
  
You walked through a few spots with their curtains pulled until you found Dean standing, his eyes were focused on a metal cabinet that was three feet from you. Both of you looked at one another for a few seconds before heading over. You crouched down on the ground as Dean followed behind. He grabbed the handle and slowly twisted it, allowing both of the doors open. What laid inside made both of you cringe.   
  
You had to turn your head away and press your palm against your mouth to keep yourself from vomiting right at that moment. Inside was Dr. Sanford Ellicott rotting corpse. You took a quick glance before your gag reflex kicked in, you groaned at the stench that was coming off from the body.   
  
“Oh, that’s just gross.” Dean groaned, focusing the flashlight on the body. You turned your head away and pinched your nose. That was a very big understatement.   
  
After getting used to the smell of rotting corpse, you and Dean got to work. He grabbed the salt from the bag and began to pour it all over the body. “Soak it up.” He said, talking to the body as he did his part of the job. When he threw the container of salt back into the bag, you reached for the lighter fluid and began to squirt it all over the body. But being this close towards it made both of you begin to feel sick to your stomach. You pinched your nose again and tried your hardest to stop coughing.   
  
Both of you were so caught up in burning the body, neither of you didn’t seem to notice the flashlight that you laid on the ground was beginning to flicker on and off.   
  
You got up from the ground for just a second so you could throw the lighter fluid back into the bag. When you bent down to grab the lighter to start the fire, your head immediately shot up just in time to see a stretcher come barreling towards you. But you didn’t have much time to react. You were knocked all way across the room, landing roughly on your side. You heard Dean shout your name, but then just a few moments later you heard a thump and groans from him.   
  
You turned around so you were lying on your back now, you winced in pain from the slightest pressure that was put on your body. You managed to open your eyes slightly to figure out what was going on. You turned your head to see that Dean was across the other side of the room, trying his hardest to fight the pain that he was feeling from the sudden blow towards his head and the chest wound he had received earlier.   
  
Suddenly you were focusing on what was happening to Dean when you found a scream of pain being erupted from your throat. A pair of cold fingers wrapped around your temples and a pressure of someone straddling your lower part of your body was one of the few things you could focus on as an electric shock ran through your entire body.   
  
“Don’t be afraid. I’m going to help you.” Dr. Ellicott spirit was making you his next patient. He was making you experience something that had to be similar towards electroshock therapy. “I’m going to make you feel all better.”   
  
All you could was scream out from the pain that was the worst thing that ever happened to you. It felt like your entire body was being shaken from the inside out. You kept praying over and over again that it would be all over.   
  
You had a few more seconds of the torture until it just stopped. You felt your head bang against the concrete floor which caused a sigh of relief from you, but turned into a groan from the pain.   
  
You opened your eyes to see that the spirit was staring at his hands with fear. You turned your head to see that Dean had managed to set the corpse on fire when he wasn’t pay attention. With what strength you had left, you managed to roll away before it was too late. You watched as the doctor’s spirit slowly began to disintegrate from the head down. His fingers slowly started to grow like his corpse, all bitter and stiff. You turned away just in time when his body turned into a statute state, falling towards the ground and breaking into tiny pieces.   
  
You stared at the body with wide eyes, your mind trying to wrap around what just happened to you. You weakly pulled your body away from the corpse that was in front of you. Something about it was beginning to give you the creeps. You turned your head to see that Sam was beginning to wake up and Dean was in a sitting up position.   
  
“You’re not gonna try and kill me, are you?” Dean asked, amusing himself.   
  
Sam looked at his brother as he pressed a hand against his jaw, he moved it around a bit before speaking. “No.” He said.   
  
“Good. Cause that would be awkward.” Dean muttered.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You had never been so happy to see the outside world again. After finding Kat and Gavin, all of you safely made it out of the asylum to see that morning was already happening. The two teenagers stood in front of you, looks of gratification written both of their faces.   
  
“Thanks, guys.” Kat said.   
  
“Yeah, thanks.” Gavin repeated. He looked to be more guiltier than anything else.   
  
“No more haunted asylums, okay?” Dean warned towards the two teenagers. They nodded their heads before turning around and heading back towards their car. You watched as they drove off, becoming nothing more than a small speck in the distance.   
  
You turned back around and headed towards the backseat of the car. Never in your life did you suddenly become excited of the idea to be taking a nice warm shower and sleep in some crappy motel. You leaned yourself against the door while the boys took their sweet time. Dean was standing next to the trunk while Sam stood besides the fence with his hands shoved inside his pocket.   
  
“Hey, Dean.” Sam said. His expression was written with guilt as he continued talking. “I’m sorry, man. I said some pretty awful things back there.”   
  
“You remembered that?” Dean asked,   
  
“Yeah.” Sam admitted. “It’s like I couldn’t control it, but I didn’t mean it—any of it.”   
  
Dean was quiet for a few seconds before speaking. “You didn’t, huh?”   
  
“No. Of course, not.” Sam said, looking at his brother. “Do we need to talk about this?”   
  
“No, no.” Dean said. He turned around headed over towards the left side of the car, throwing the bag inside the car. “Besides, I’m not in the sharing and caring kind of mood.”   
  
“When are you ever?” You muttered.   
  
He rolled his eyes,walking over towards the driver’s side and opened up the door. “I just want to get some sleep.” He admitted. You watched as he slipped inside the car and waited for you and Sam to follow in his actions.   
  
\+ + +   
  
It wasn’t an ideal place where you wanted to crash, but the couch standing right in front of you was the most beautiful thing you had landed your eyes on. Even though it’s been your spot since all of you had got here (because all their rooms with single beds were “booked.”) This was Dean’s way of punishing you for taking the Impala.   
  
You were too tired to even think about going to the front desk to see if there was another room available for you to crash in for the time until all of you were on the road again. So you decided to curl up on this old thing and rest your eyes. But first, you were in desperate need of a shower. You smelled faintly of dead body and mold. It made you want to gag all over again.   
  
When Sam and Dean declared that they the bathroom, you grabbed your pajamas and headed into the place hoping there was still hot water left for you. You flicked on the light and placed your clothes on the counter top. You headed towards the small tub, twisting around the knobs until you felt the perfect temperature. You got inside and made sure to scrub your body from anything that made you think of the asylum.   
  
After ten minutes, you stepped out of the shower with your body smelling like your favorite scent and a towel wrapped around your body. You headed over towards the mirror that was fogged up from the heat. You wiped away the perspiration and stared at yourself for a few moments.   
  
You took note of how the dark circles underneath your eyes were more prominent from the lack of sleep and stress. You noticed how your body wasn’t as flabby as it was before you joined the boys. You actually had muscles from all the running around you did. You couldn’t help but let a small smile grow, maybe all of this wasn’t so bad.   
  
A pounding headache suddenly took an effect causing you to clutch your head in pain. It was probably due towards the shock therapy you had to endure earlier and the lack of sleep. You reached for the aspirin that was sitting on the counter. You shook out two pills and popped them into your mouth. Ducking down, you turned on faucet and cupped your hands so you could drink the water. When you swallowed the pills, you waited for the pain to stop.   
  
You got dressed into a pair of flannel shorts and a big t shirt that you had stolen from one of the boys a long time ago. You brushed your wet hair and pulled it out of the way so it wasn’t going to get in the way when you slept. When you looked at yourself in the mirror again, you felt a gasp escape.   
  
What the hell? What the hell is going on? You thought to yourself.   
  
Your hands wrapped around the edge of the sink as you found yourself leaning in further towards the mirror. What you were seeing wasn’t something that could be explained. You didn’t even know if this was real. You shakily pressed a hand against your eye.   
  
It was black.   
  
Your eyes were black.   
  
They looked eerily familiar to…   
  
Demon eyes?   
  
No. No, No! This wasn’t happening.   
  
You frantically blinked, hoping that you were just hallucinating from the stressful day. Maybe it was some sort of after effect from the spirit. But no matter what you tried to do, they still remained that pitch black color that sent a shiver down your spine. It was like a nightmare that you had a few weeks ago, it was coming true.   
  
“(Y/N)?”   
  
Your head turned towards the bathroom door, you heard someone banging on the door as Sam called out your name again. You began to panic, not sure what to do. But before you had the chance to take a plan of action, the bathroom door swung open. You stared at him with wide eyes, not sure what was going to happen next.   
  
“Hey, are you done in here?” He asked, flashing a sheepish smile. “I really need to go.”   
  
“U-Um, yeah.” You muttered, dropping your gaze down so he couldn’t see your eyes. You grabbed your dirty clothes and quietly squeezed past him. You flinched when you heard him call out your name, but in a softer tone.   
  
“Are you okay?” He asked. Still with your back turned towards him, you just nodded your head. “Is this about what happened between the both of us back there?”   
  
You let out a breath that didn’t know you were holding. You shook your head. “We’ll talk about it later, okay? I’m tired and I have a headache.” You said, hoping he would just leave you alone.   
  
The silence that followed after your question left a bad feeling inside your stomach. “Hey, wait a second.” You closed your eyes, waiting for him to say—”Is that my shirt?” You heard footsteps approaching you from behind until you saw Sam standing right in front of you. He looked down at your top, His lips stretched into a smirk. “I was wondering where that one went.”   
  
You turned your head slightly to see your reflection in the mirror, your eyes were the same old (Y/E/C) ones. You quietly let out a sigh of relief. “Sorry. It was too comfortable to give up.” You said, letting out a shaky laugh.   
  
“Keep it.” He said, giving you a small smile that showed off those dimples that you loved. No matter what he did, that smile always made you feel a bit better. “Consider it a small present for me being a dick to you earlier. Besides, it looks good on you.”   
  
You rolled your eyes, smiling yourself as you looked down at your feet. “Shut up, Winchester and go to the bathroom.” You said. “You’re not off the hook just yet.”   
  
You walked back towards the couch where your bag was lying on, you stuffed the dirty clothes into it and dropped it towards the floor. Not caring more about anything else, you fell backwards towards the couch, letting yourself sink deep into the cushions. You snuggled deep into the pillow and wrapped your body into the sheets. You didn’t let yourself fall asleep until you heard both of the boys slip into their own beds.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Ringing was the first thing that you heard when your eyelids fluttered open. It was still daylight out as you shifted around in your makeshift bed. You saw that both of the boys were passed out, not phased from the ringing that was continuing. You groaned, ripping the sheets from your body and swung your legs towards the carpeted floor.   
  
“Dean.” You heard Sam mutter. But his brother was still passed out.   
  
“Answer it.” You said, standing over Sam’s bed with your arms crossed. It looked like Dean wasn’t going to bother waking up no matter what you did.   
  
Sam rolled towards the side and reached for the phone that was sitting on the nightstand. He looked down at the caller I.D. to see who it was before flipping it open and answering it. “Hello?” He asked, his tone was still sleepy.   
  
But something suddenly changed inside of him because next thing you knew he was sitting up in bed, his face alert as ever. What he said next made your heart skip a beat.   
  
“Dad?”


	10. Scarecrow.

_ Twenty-two years ago. (Sixteen hours before death.)   
  
Andrew’s Point of View. _   
  
A weekend morning ritual for the family of three would go as the following: the parents of (Y/N) would feel her tiny feet jumping up and down on the queen sized bed, hearing her whines of her grumbling stomach that needed to be fed. Andrew would always wake up first before his wife. She would always mumble something and toss over towards the other side of the bed for another ten minutes before getting up. On that particular morning, he woke up towards his daughter’s (Y/E/C) staring at his own with a smile spread across her lips. Andrew felt a smile of his own as he observed his daughter’s face. He took notice of how much curiosity and adventure always seemed to be filled in them.   
  
“Daddy! Wake up!” She cried out with joy, throwing her body on his. She wrapped her small arms around him and snuggled her head into the cook of his neck.   
  
“Pumpkin, it’s…” Andrew turned his head to look at the alarm clock that was sitting on the nightstand. His felt a yawn escape his lips when he read the numbers. “Exactly seven in the morning.”   
  
Andrew sat up in bed, grabbing his daughter so she was sitting on his lap. He looked over to see that his wife’s eyes were still closed as she pretended to fall back asleep. He decided to let her sleep just a bit longer before they continued their morning routine. Their daughter jumped out of bed when he mentioned getting dressed for breakfast. She immediately ran out of the room and headed towards her own that was down the hall. He sighed to himself at how much energy the toddler had, he ripped off the covers from his body and swung his feet over the bed.   
  
“She’s just like you.” Andrew looked over his shoulder to see that his wife was staring at him, a small smirk spread across her sleepy face. “She’s a little ball of energy that nobody can stand without their first cup of coffee.”   
  
Andrew smiled, leaning over in the bed so he was inches from her face. “Is that a request to get you a cup, dear?” He asked in a whispered tone. Her smile grew as she nodded her head. “And would you like me to start breakfast and bring it to you too?”   
  
Ella grinned, she let out a quiet laugh as she sat up in bed. She pretended to be a demanding wife, her tone mocked a serious one. “I like my coffee black and eggs scrambled.” She said, leaning in closer so her lips were hovering over his, trying her hardest not to laugh as she continued. “I want it on my bed in ten minutes flat.”   
  
“Yes, ma'am. Anything else?” Andrew asked in a mocked obedient tone. His lips twitched into a small smile when his wife continued with the act.   
  
“Oh yeah, give me a morning kiss.” Just as they leaned in close enough to have their lips hovering over one another, a child’s voice brought their actions to a halt.   
  
Both of them broke away and looked over towards the bedroom door. There stood their daughter; she had dressed herself into a mismatched outfit of a red t shirt, a pink skirt, one blue sock and a green one. They tried their hardest not to laugh as she twirled around, shouting “Ta da!” when she stopped after three more spins.   
  
“You look…beautiful.” Ella said, biting her bottom lip when she felt another laugh coming forward. She quickly swallowed it and looked at her husband. “I’ll get her dressed, you go make that coffee.” Before she got off from the bed, she quickly kissed her husband on the lips and mumbled and I love you.   
  
Andrew watched as his wife headed over towards their daughter, she scooped up (Y/N) into her arms and walked out of the room. He got up from the bed and took a step forward towards the bedroom door, but before he had a chance to take another one, a pounding erupted into his head. He winced in pain, his hand jumping towards his temples. He sucked in a breath that he had lost from the pressure. Another migraine coming back, this was the fifth one this month.   
  
He walked over towards the bathroom in hopes that there was the new bottle of aspirin. His wife had mentioned she bought another one earlier this week after he started complaining about this frequent headache. Andrew opened up the medicine cabinet and sighed in relief, seeing the white bottle sitting on the top shelf. He grabbed a glass cup that was sitting on the sink, filled it up with water and grabbed the bottle. Twisting off the top and pouring out a few pills, he popped them into his mouth. He reached for the cup and took a large sip before swallowing all of it.   
  
Andrew waited a few moments until he felt the pounding subside, he reached with his free hand to put the bottle back into the cabinet and closed the mirror door. When he took a look at his reflection, something had changed. He felt the cup slip out his hands, all he heard was the sounds of glass breaking onto the tiled floor and the gasp that escaped his mouth. His blinked a few times, hoping that it was just the migraine that was messing with him. But…it looked so real.   
  
He tilted his head as he leaned closer into the mirror, his hands reached his right eye that wasn’t the normal shade of (Y/E/C). No, it was something that he thought he would never see again in his entire human life.   
  
They were black…his eyes were a pitch black.   
  
How could this be? He thought that side of him was gone. The dark passenger that he had found so many years ago, it was supposed to be cleansed away. The men promised him after doing that horrific experiment on him.   
  
“Andrew?” In the distance, he heard his wife calling his name. Her small footsteps echoed in his ears over the sound of his pounding heart. He tried to think of something to distract her from coming inside, but before he thought of a plan of action, he saw her growing reflection in the mirror. “I heard a crash, are you alright?”   
  
“I—I’m fine.” He called out, ducking his head towards the sink so she wouldn’t see his eyes. He heard her footsteps stop at the bathroom door, her body lingering. “I lost my grip, that’s all.”   
  
“Another migraine?” Ella asked, concern rising in her voice. Andrew just nodded his head, still not looking up at his wife. His fingers gripped around the edge of the sink tighter when she began to lecture him. “I told you, you should go to the doctors. All these pills you’re taking isn’t good for your liver.”   
  
Nag, nag, nag. That’s all she does to me. He thought to himself. Anger was rising in his body when she continued to talk. His eyes trailed over towards the right side of the sink, there laid the silver scissors his wife had used to cut their daughter’s hair last night before her bath. If he was quick enough he could—   
  
No. No. No. Shut up.. Shut the hell up. Damn it!This isn’t you, Andrew. Snap out of it before you hurt her. You’ll regret it. Think of poor (Y/N) without her mother, how much she’ll hate you for the rest of her life if ever figures out what monster you were. You are.   
  
“Andrew? Are you okay, honey?” Ella walked over towards her husband, lifting a hand so she could rest it on his shoulder, but he was quick to respond before she touched him. She let out a gasp when he turned around so suddenly. But she caught herself, laughing a bit when she realized how foolish he was acting. “Your coffee is waiting for you on the nightstand. Maybe some caffeine will help with that headache.”   
  
Andrew felt his wife’s lips on his cheek before hearing her mumble about the mess that he needed to clean up before someone got hurt. He watched as she headed out of the bedroom again, disappearing from his vision. He was frozen with shock as a million questions filled his mind. Why did she scream? Was this really all in his head?   
  
He sucked in a deep breath before turning his head to look into the mirror. What he saw wasn’t a monster at all. He saw Andrew (Y/L/N). Husband of a wonderful wife, father of a beautiful little girl, and most important, a human being.   
  
Andrew couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, wondering why he was so worried about his wife seeing him like that. It must have been just some sort of hallucination from the migraine. He flicked off the bathroom light and headed over towards the nightstand where a steamy cup of coffee sat just for him. Oblivious towards his wife that stood outside of in the hall.   
  
Her back was pressed against the wall as she tried her hardest to control her tears that demanded to fall. She didn’t want to believe what she had just saw. Those black eyes that she had seen on countless others, it felt so strange to see them on the one that she loved the most. She just hoped it was all in her head. She knew demons liked to play tricks on their victims before taking part of their deals. But she hoped it wasn’t going to be tonight.   
  
These two years had went more quickly than she had expected. But if she wanted to spend more time with her daughter, it had to be done. She had sold her own soul in order to get what she had always craved—a normal, complicated free pregnancy. Something that she was told she could never have. The normal, happy life would follow behind with her husband and her daughter, living in a quiet neighborhood with a white picket fence.   
  
She loved Andrew, she really did.   
  
But Ella needed to live long enough to make sure her daughter never had to see what creatures lurked in the darkness. This was going to keep (Y/N) safe, she knew what was best for her daughter. Even if it meant selling her husband’s soul to a filthy demon and letting him burn in Hell. She would follow behind when her daughter turned eighteen. It was the price she was willing to pay to have something she thought she could never have. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and forced a smile.   
  
I’m doing the right thing, she told herself. There is nothing wrong with this.   
  
Because as the saying goes: Mother knows best.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Present Day:   
  
“Dad?”   
  
Sam sat up in bed with full alert of what was happening, the cell phone was pressed against his ear as he waited for his father to speak. You quietly took a few steps forward and sat at the edge of his bed, trying not to make it known that she was trying to eavesdrop on their private conversation. But Sam was too caught up in hearing his father’s voice in almost two long years to notice you.   
  
“Sam, is that you?” You heard John’s voice from the other side of the line.   
  
“Dad. Are you hurt?” Sam asked, his voice growing full of concern.   
  
John chuckled before simply saying, “I’m fine.”   
  
“We’ve been looking for you everywhere.” Sam said, lowering his voice when he glanced over at his sleeping brother. “We didn’t know where you were, if you were okay.”   
  
“Sammy, I’m all right.” John said. “What about you, Dean and (Y/N)?”   
  
“Well, we’re fine.” Sam said, switching the phone towards his over ear. You glanced over to see that Dean was now waking up. “Dad, where are you?”   
  
“Sorry, kiddo. I can’t tell you that.” John simply said. As if that was going to be good enough for his youngest son.   
  
“What? Why not?” Sam questioned.   
  
“Is that Dad?” You heard Dean whisper, you looked over to see was lying on his side, giving his brother a look mixed with curiosity and concern. But Sam just ignored his brother’s question as their father kept talking, making excuse after excuse towards why all of you couldn’t figure out where he was.   
  
“Look, I know this is hard for you to understand. You’re just gonna have to trust me on this.” John vaguely explained. But Sam seemed to have figured out what was going on.   
  
“You’re going after it, aren’t you?” He whispered. “The thing that killed Mom.”   
  
“Yeah.” John say, you leaned in a bit closer to hear what he had said next. But it made you feel like something grabbed a hold of your heart at what you heard next. “It’s a demon, Sam.”   
  
“A demon?” Sam repeated, trying to soak up the information. He looked up at you and Dean, hoping that both of you knew what was going on. “You know for sure?”   
  
“A demon? What’s he saying?” Dean questioned, trying to get answers out his brother. He grabbed a shirt that was lying on his bed. He pulled it over his head and got himself dressed.   
  
“I do. Listen, Sammy…I, uh….I also know what happened to your girlfriend.” You watched as Sam just sat frozen in his spot, his eyes became glazed over at the mention of Jess. “I’m sorry. I would have done anything to protect you from that.”   
  
“You know where it is?” Sam asked.   
  
“Yeah, I think I’m finally closing in on it.” John explained.   
  
“Let us help.” Sam said.   
  
“You can’t. You can’t be any part of it.”   
  
“Why not?” Sam questioned, his tone becoming harder.   
  
Dean reached his hand towards his brother. “Give me the phone.”   
  
“Listen, Sammy, that’s why I’m calling. You and your brother, you’ve got to stop looking for me. I need you to write down these names.” Your eyebrows furrowed together, why would he be asking that?   
  
“Names? What names, Dad? Talk to me, tell me what’s going on.” Sam said, trying again.   
  
“Look,” John’s voice became tougher. His tone changing into the one that he used whenever one of you acted out. “We don’t have time for this. This is bigger than you think. They’re everywhere. Even us talking right now, it’s not safe.”   
  
“No. All right?” Sam argued, shaking his head. “No way.”   
  
“Give me the phone.” Dean was almost yelling now, trying to get his brother’s attention. You swallowed the urge to tell him to shut up.   
  
“I’ve give you an order. Now, stop following me, and you do your job. Do you understand me?” John said, trying to take control of this conversation. “Now take down these names.”   
  
But before you could hear anymore of the conversation, Dean leaned over and grabbed the cellphone from Sam’s hand. He pressed it against his ear and spoke to his father. “Dad, it’s me. Where are you?” Dean tried himself to lure out questions, but after a few seconds of silence and the look on his face, you knew that he was going to get anything but details for a new case. “Yes, sir.” He mumbled. “Uh…yeah, I got a pen.” Dean snatched a pad and pen from the nightstand and placed them into his lap. “What are the names?”   
  
You observed Sam’s face with concern, he looked like someone had just slapped him. Slowly, you reached over and grabbed his hand as you tried your hardest to smile. You know the poor boy had been waiting for this moment for well over half a year, but never did he expect it would end like this. No answers, just another case for him and his brother to solve. He ripped his hand away from you and stormed out of bed. You watched as he headed over towards the bathroom, you sighed to yourself and shook you head.   
  
After a few minutes on the phone, the room became silent. You looked up, expecting to Dean with that poker face he used to get himself ready for a new case. But you were surprised to see that he was staring at you, his arm stretched out with the cell phone still open. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion.   
  
“He wants to talk to you.” Dean whispered.   
  
You reached for the phone, wondering why John would want to speak to you after that one conversation that left you with a million other things that you wished you could have said, an apology was on top of your list. You pressed the phone against your ear and answered it with a hello, what he said next took you a bit by surprise. “(Y/N), we need to speak in private.” Your eyes trailed over towards Dean, who was staring at you.   
  
You sheepishly smiled, gesturing towards the door as you got up from the bed. “Um, give me a second.” You headed over towards the motel door, making sure to slip on a pair of shoes before you walked out of the room and stepped outside towards the warm Spring afternoon. “Okay, I’m outside. Why do you need to talk to me?”   
  
“I should lecture you of how you spoke to me last time we met. Or why you went against my orders when I clearly had told you not to get yourself caught up in this mess.” You dug your fingernails into your palm. “But that’s not why I’m calling you. I needed to tell you something, but not in front of the boys. It’s about your parents.”   
  
“My parents? What does this—” You quickly asked, but you stopped yourself. You fell” silent when you thought about what was happening. John calling the boys because he had found something? Your eyes trailed off towards a family in the distance, a frown stretching on your lips. Your tone of voice became hard. “The demon you’re hunting…it’s connected to me, too. Isn’t it?”   
  
On the other end, John kept quiet for a few moments. He sighed to himself before speaking again. “Yes. I believe I…I even think it went after your father. His death seemed rather odd.” You felt your heart stop beating when he mentioned your own father. “I looked around into his death certificate a few years back and the autopsy report—”   
  
“Wait, autopsy? I thought he just died a heart attack.” You said, leaning your backside against the wall. None of this was making sense to you.   
  
“The coroner wanted to one. Your father was young, healthy and had no previous records of family heart disease. It was just for added caution.” John explained. “But he found something that was rather…disturbing.”   
  
You waited for John to continue, but pause of his hesitation was making you become antsy. You tapped your foot against the concrete and tried your hardest to talk in a calm manner. “John, from what I’ve seen these past couple of months, whatever happened to him, I’m sure I can take it.”   
  
“His heart exploded. The coroner said it would have been one of the most painful heart attacks in order for that to happen. He presumed Andrew’s heart began to beat at an unusual pace, harder until the point it just…you know.” John explained. He quietly sighed before continuing to talk. “The thing that made me think of a demon was because there was traces of sulfur around the heart. And the paramedics that I spoke to said that entire room reeked of it.”   
  
You felt your breathing became uneven as you tried to blink away the tears that were threatening to fall. You didn’t know what was going on. Why was your father killed by one? “And my mother? Y—You think it’s the one that took over her body?” You bit your bottom lip, knowing that his silence was the answer that you had been dreading. “I-I don’t get it. Why?” You couldn’t help yourself now, you felt the tears beginning to fall down as you thought about it. You wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.   
  
“Your mother told me she had been tracking this particular demon since she started hunting. There was something about it that made her want to get this thing, trap it in Hell so it couldn’t hurt anyone else.” John explained, falling silent for a few moments before continuing. “After she got pregnant for you, she told me she was going to stop for good. But you know Ella, she was at it again a few years later.” You let out a small laugh, knowing that your mother wasn’t the one to quit. “She was getting pretty close to the thing, she was trying to track its next move. But on the night she was going to leave, that’s when your father passed away. It was like a warning.”   
  
You ran your fingers through your hair as you let out a breath you hadn’t know you’ve been holding. “Ella tried to move on, but paranoia was getting the best of her. After another two years, she packed up everything and moved you the hell out of Kansas. I think she was worried that it would come back for you after Mary was killed.”   
  
“But she ended up being the one it wanted.” You said. You were silent for a few moments, sucking in a breath before asking a question you didn’t want to hear the answer towards. “Do you think it could come after me?”   
  
The pause before his answer made your stomach twist into knots. “I’m not sure. That’s why I want you to stay with the boys for protection.” You heard his voice quickly change. “Try to keep yourself out of danger and don’t you dare even think about being apart of this case. It’s too dangerous. Do you understand me?”   
  
You swallowed, hating how he was acting, but you nodded your head as if you were standing in front of him. “Yes, sir.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
You sat in the backseat of the Impala, your head turned towards the window as you looked at the blurry scenery. Night had fallen, but you could see the woods that passed by and the fog that lingered in the air. Sam was at the wheel while Dean was in the passenger’s side, going over the case that their father had given them. You weren’t listening towards what they were saying. You had been caught up in your own thoughts, replaying of what John had said to you about what he had discovered. It still made you sick to your stomach.   
  
“All right, so the names that Dad gave us, they’re all couples?” Sam asked his brother, his eyes still glued towards the road.   
  
“Three different couples all went missing.” Dean stated. He had a pen in his hand as he overlooked the material that sat in his lap.   
  
“And they’re all from different towns, different states?”   
  
“Yeah. Washington, New York, Colorado. Each couple took a road trip cross-country.” Dean explained. “None of them arrived at their destination. None of them were ever heard from again.”   
  
“Well, it’s a big country, Dean. They could have disappeared anywhere.” Sam said.   
  
“Yeah, they could have, but each one’s route took them through the same part of Indiana. Always the second week of April, one year after another after another.” Dean said, lifting up the map for a second before placing it back down on his lap.   
  
“This is the second week of April.” Sam mentioned.   
  
“Yup.” Dean said.   
  
“So Dad is sending us to Indiana to go hunting for something before another couple vanishes?” Sam asked, his voice was lined with confusion.   
  
“Yahtzee.” Dean muttered, letting the car fall into a silence that lasted for a few moments before speaking again. “Can you imagine putting together a pattern like this? The different obits Dad had to go through. The man is a master.”   
  
You noticed that the car was drifting towards the side of the road. You broke away your concentration from the window to look at the brothers with confusion. “What are you doing?” You asked, speaking up for the first time during the car ride.   
  
Sam quietly sighed, he turned off the engine and sat quiet for a few seconds before answering your question. “We’re not going to Indiana.”   
  
“We’re not?” Dean asked, not sure what was going on.   
  
“No, we’re going to California.” Sam explained. “Dad called from a payphone—a Sacramento area code.”   
  
“Sam.” You warned him, pulling yourself up from the seat so you were in between the brothers. He turned around in his seat, tilting his head as he gave you a look, that damn look that he always used when he wanted to you to agree with him. Normally it would work, but this time it made you want to smack it right off his damn face.   
  
“If this demon killed my mom and Jess, if he’s closing in, we got to be there.” He said, giving you an explanation that wasn’t very satisfying. You itched to tell him that John told you, but Dean was the next one to talk.   
  
“Dad doesn’t want our help.” Dean argued, shaking his head.   
  
“Well, I don’t care.” Sam remarked.   
  
“He’s given us an order.” Dean sternly said.   
  
“I don’t care.” Sam repeated. You gave him a look of disbelief. “We don’t always have to do what he says.”   
  
“Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs, save lives.” Dean said, pointing towards the map with the pen. “It’s important.”   
  
“All right, I understand. Believe me, I understand.” Sam tried to reason with the both of you. But all you were hearing was a death wish that he wanted to fill. “But I’m talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge.”   
  
“Look, I know how you feel.” Dean said, but his brother just scoffed.   
  
“Do you?” You looked at him with wide eyes, what he said next was the last straw. “How old were you when Mom died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know I feel?”   
  
“Dad said it wasn’t safe for any of us.” Dean said, his voice rising as he continued to talk. His own anger was beginning to boil over. “I mean, he obviously knows something we don’t. So if he tells us to stay away, we stay away.”   
  
“I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it’s like you don’t even question him!” Sam argued.   
  
“It’s called being a good son!” Dean yelled, but that seemed to have been enough for Sam.   
  
You watched as he reached for the door handle, you cursed underneath your breath as he slid out and headed for the trunk. Dean quickly followed behind. You rolled your eyes, knowing that the fight had just only begun between the brothers. Same old argument, just a different place.   
  
You got out of the car and headed towards the boys that had just begun to fight. You saw that Sam had popped the trunk. Dean walked over and began to spit out insults towards his brother.   
  
“You’re a selfish Bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want.” He taunted, stopping in front of the trunk as Sam put on his backpack. “You don’t care what anybody thinks.”   
  
“That’s what you think of me?” Sam asked.   
  
“Yeah, it is.” Dean remarked.   
  
Sam scoffed, he reached for something else before continuing to talk. “Well, this selfish Bastard is going to California.”   
  
You ran your fingers through your hair, watching as he just started walking. You looked over at Dean, hoping that he could just change his tune for once and get his brother to walk back towards the car. “Come on, you’re not serious.” You said, breaking the tension.   
  
“I am serious.” Sam simply said, not bothering to even turn around. He just kept walking.   
  
You began to run towards him, hoping that you could talk some sense into him. “It’s the middle of the night.” You argued. But Sam just kept quiet.   
  
“Hey, I’m taking off. I will leave your ass. Do you hear me?” Dean threatened, his voice traveling through the air.   
  
That seemed to have stopped Sam, because next thing you knew you stopped when he turned around and looked at his brother. A smart remark spilled out his mouth. “That’s what I want you to do.” He called out.   
  
You walked up towards him and stopped. You stared at him, a look of disbelief written across your face. Sam opened his mouth to say something, but before he had a chance to say anything, your back hand reached up and smacked him directly on the cheek. Your hand stung like hell, but you couldn’t help yourself. “You’re an idiot.” You hissed. You watched as he turned his head, he looked at you with a bit of shock at what you had done. You could see the imprint of your hand on his cheek from the headlights. He said your name, but you quickly cut him off.   
  
“Shut up. I’m not done speaking” You said, pointing a finger up at him. “Now, I have listened to you and Dean bicker for the past six months about your father. I took your side when you wanted to go to college. I’m there for you all the way when it comes to getting revenge on this thing. But Sam…you’re not going to get anywhere like this.” You shook your head. “You can’t go into this with your eyes closed hoping to find a demon that you think killed your girlfriend. We need to plan, we need to make sure it’s the right one.”   
  
“(Y/N), I’ve been waiting six months to find this thing that took Jess—”   
  
“I’ve been waiting eight years to figure out what killed my mom. Hell, I was just told today that my dad was killed by the same demon that possessed her. And you wanna know what the real kicker is? It’s the same one that killed your pretty girlfriend and your mother. But hey,” You asked, mocking a smile. “if you wanna be its next victim, go right ahead. I’ll just check you off as another person that I lost to this son of a bitch.”   
  
And with that, you turned around and headed back to the Impala. Your heart was pounding inside your ears when you didn’t hear him walk behind you. You looked over your shoulder to see that he was just still standing there. You shook your head and walk towards the passenger side of the car, sliding inside and slamming the door shut. You let out a breath and pressed your forehead against the window. You shouldn’t have said those things, but you didn’t care anymore. You were sick of being the voice of reason. Sam just needed to drown a bit to realize that he is in way over his head. 

\+ + +

The car ride between you and Dean was nothing more than tense. You stared out of the passenger side window, listening towards the engine and pattering of raindrops that softly fell on the metal rooftop. You replayed the slap that you had give Sam inside your head at least a dozen times. You had no idea what came over you.   
  
Deep, deep down, something told you to do it. It was that small voice inside your head that was telling you he deserved it. That boy needed some sense knocked into his thick skull. And before your conscious kicked in to stop you, your hand had went up and smacked him right across the cheek. The strange part was that you kind of liked it. You found it oddly satisfying to just tell him how you really felt about his actions and how dumb he was acting.   
  
You pressed your head against the cold window and tried your hardest to forget about all of it. The silence of the car seemed like a good lullaby to let you get a few hours of sleep before trying to solve this problem in the morning. You told yourself that everything would be smoothed over by lunchtime and Sam would be back together with you and Dean. Where he had belonged.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The next morning, you woke up towards a new sight that wasn’t an open road and woods filled with trees. Yawning, you looked around to see that Dean was pulling up towards a small town that seemed a little too perfect looking. Small little corner stores were spread around the place as you saw a few people walking around the town with umbrellas at their side, the rain must have hit here too last night.   
  
Dean stopped the car after another minute of driving, but he didn’t turn off the engine just yet. You turned your head from the window to see that he dug inside his pocket and fetched out his cell phone. He clicked through a few contacts until it landed on Sam’s name. Dean just stared at it for a few moments, as if it was going to ring. But he decided not to do anything. He closed his phone and shoved it back into his pocket. As he reached for the door handle, your voice stopped him in his actions.   
  
“Call him already. It’s not like he’s going to apologize for how you treated him back there.” You blurted out, not realizing what you had just said.   
  
He sat in his seat, staring at you like you had just grown a second head. Dean opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped before thinking for a few seconds, as if he was debating with himself about what he was going to say. But it came out anyway. “Listen here, (Y/N).” He stated. “I think it was pretty damn stupid of you of what you did to him yourself. I have half the mind to lock you into some motel room where you can’t cause anymore trouble.”   
  
“Look, we’re all under stress. I get that.” You said, your voice becoming a bit lower while you continued talking. “But while you’re sitting on your ass trying to lecture me, we’re wasting precious time to solve this case. Do you wanna try this again?”   
  
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Dean asked. His tone of voice was full of disbelief at what you were saying. This wasn’t the typical, level headed friend that he knew.   
  
You sighed to yourself, trying to control the mood that had clouded your judgment ever since last night. “I’m just stressed about what your dad told me.” You admitted, shrugging your shoulders. Dean stared at you for a few moments. You clenched your jaw, remembering that you hadn’t told him what you learned. You told Sam out of anger, but Dean was still in the dark. “I—It’s about my parents. John found evidence that links towards the demon that also killed your mother and Jess.” You clenched your jaw as you focused your attention at your lap.   
  
“Are you serious?” Dean asked, his tone barely in a whisper.   
  
You nodded your head, explaining the details that John had told you about your mother’s connection with this demon. You told him of how your father’s death was almost like a warning sign that if she were to get any closer, someone else might have gotten hurt.   
  
“So that’s why I’m worried about Sam.” You said. You felt yourself become a bit more at ease when you admitted at what had been weighing heavy on your conscious. “I don’t want him to get hurt.”   
  
“This is Sam we’re talking about.” Dean said, you saw a small smile spread across his face when he talked about his brother. “He always manages to find a way to land on his feet.”   
  
Both of you slipped out of the car after having that little talk. You and Dean headed up towards a small shop that had a wooden sign above it that said “Scotty’s Cafe.” Your eyes landed towards a man that was sitting on a chair outside of his restaurant. You noticed how he seemed to have followed the both of you went you approached him, you forced a smile when you and Dean stopped in front of him.   
  
“Let me guess—Scotty?” Dean asked, smiling at the older man.   
  
Scotty turned his head up towards the sign before looking at the both of you. His expression still remained flat, as if he had already grown bored of the conversation before it even started. “Yup.” He simply said.   
  
“Hi, my name is John Bonham.” Dean introduced himself. He gestured towards you, a small smile spread across his face. “And this is my sister, Jane.”   
  
“Isn’t that the drummer for Led Zeppelin?” Scotty asked, you couldn’t help yourself but let the urge to hit Dean right upside the head run through your mind. Of all the names he could pick, why something so stupid?   
  
“Wow.” Dean muttered. He smiled as chuckle escaped his throat. “Classic-rock fan.”   
  
“What can I do for you, John?” Scotty asked.   
  
Dean cleared his throat as he reached inside his jacket pocket. He pulled out two folded up pieces of paper. He unfolded them and handed them to Scotty. You noticed they were the missing signs of the couple that had been vanished. “I was wondering if you seen this people, by chance.” Dean said, shoving his hands inside his pockets.   
  
Scotty examined the first missing sign of the man for a few moments, then of the woman. He didn’t seem to give it much thought before answering you two. “Nope. Who are they?” He asked.   
  
“Friends of ours.” You explained. “They passed through somewhere around here. We’ve already asked around Scottsburg and Salem.”   
  
“Sorry.” He quickly said, shoving the papers back to Dean. Your eyebrows furrowed at how sudden he was. “We don’t get many strangers around here.”   
  
Dean nodded, pretending to be understanding as he smiled. What came next out of his mouth nearly made a laugh slip from you. “Scotty, you got a smile that lights up a room. Anybody ever tell you that?” You bit your bottom lip and looked away, trying your hardest not to smile. Dean nervously chuckled at what he said, realizing that the impact wasn’t what he wanted. “Never mind.” He muttered.   
  
“See you around.” You said, giving the man a smile before turning around and heading over towards another store. When you and Dean had gotten far enough away from the man, you couldn’t help yourself but let a laugh escape your throat. “What the hell was that?” You asked, grinning at Dean. “Are you trying to charm answers out of people, now?”   
  
“Shut up.” He muttered, obviously still embarrassed at what happened. You couldn’t help yourself but laugh a bit more before composing yourself when the general store that you were heading towards was coming closer into view.   
  
Both of you stepped inside towards a small, but cozy looking shop that was filled with all different sorts of objects. An older looking couple greeted you with a welcome when they saw you enter. You and Dean explained the situation that you had told Scotty, pulling out the missing signs and handing them towards the man. He headed over towards his wife that was behind the counter. It took them only of five seconds to give you two an answer that you heard before—no.   
  
“You sure they didn’t stop for gas or something?” Dean asked.   
  
The woman shook her head as the passed the fliers towards her husband. “Nope, don’t remember them.” He said, walking back towards you and Dean. “You both said they were friends of yours?”   
  
“That’s right.” You said, reaching for the papers.   
  
“Did the guy have a tattoo?” You head turned towards a blonde girl that couldn’t be older than you. She was walking down the stairs with two boxes in her hands, approaching the counter before she set them down. She headed over towards you, her gaze dropping towards the paper.   
  
“Yes, he did.” You passed her papers. She stared at the man for a few moments before giving you and Dean some helpful information.   
  
“You remember? They were just married.” She said, looking at the older man.   
  
That seemed to have sparked something inside his head. You watched as he pressed a closed fist towards his mouth, he stared down at the picture one more time before he spoke up again with a new answer. “You’re right.” He mumbled, nodding his head. “They did stop for gas. Weren’t here for more than ten minutes.”   
  
“You remember anything else?” Dean asked.   
  
“Well, I told them how to get back to the interstate. They left town.” The man explained, you nodded your head. Well, it was better than what he had previously told you.   
  
“Could you point us in that same direction?” Dean wondered, flashing a smile.   
  
“Sure.” The man said. You smiled warmly as he gave you directions.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Following the directions, you and Dean spent a little while in the car just driving. You saw only woods and a few apple orchards that passed you by every so often. Everything about this trip seemed to be going fairly normal. That was until you heard something buzzing in the background. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, you kept quiet so you could hear it again. It sounded oddly familiar. You and Dean looked around, trying to figure out what was going on.   
  
“What the hell?” Dean muttered, looking over his shoulder. He reached over towards the backseat with his free hand, figuring out what the noise was from. He struggled to get something out from his bag after he realized it was coming from there. He pulled the car over towards the side of the road to keep from crashing into something.   
  
You turned over in your seat to see that he had reached for the EMF reader. You saw that it was going off like crazy; its lights flashing and buzzing loudly. You looked around to see where any suspicious activity could be coming from. Your eyes landed on an apple orchard that Dean had stopped near. He pointed the reader slightly more towards the place, the noises got louder. You looked at him with a suspicious look, knowing that both of you had to at least peak around the place.   
  
You got out of the car, Dean following behind. Both of you headed into the orchards. You saw that nobody was around at the moment, leaving ladders and a few woven baskets lying around. You walked deeper into the woods, not seeing anything that seemed suspicious. You turned around, looking around a bit more to see if you could catch something. But when you looked just a bit more, you spotted a creature in the distance that made a bad feeling sit in your stomach.   
  
You saw a scarecrow that was just sitting in the middle of the field. You and Dean walked up to it, examining the torn up clothing and other worn looking accessories, noting that he had a circular weapon stuck in his right hand. But you kept your focus on his hollow out eyes, you frowned at how he hideous was made to look.   
  
“Dude, you’re fugly.” Dean said, breaking the silence. You looked over at him, wondering what made him say such a random comment. But he didn’t say anything as he pointed upwards, you looked up to see something familiar that peaked out from the scarecrow’s right arm.   
  
You watched as Dean walked over towards a tree that was just a few feet away, he grabbed the ladder and headed back to the scarecrow. He got up on it until he was just close enough examine the stuffed thing with a bit more detail. Dean pulled up the sleeve a bit of the scarecrow’s outfit as he noticed something familiar about the faint details he found. He reached inside his jacket pocket, pulling out the flyer of the missing man. Dean examined the tattoo that the man had, then looking back up at the scarecrow, realizing what gruesome discovery he had made.   
  
“Nice tat.” He said, loud enough for you to hear.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Heading back to the general store, you knew there was something the couple didn’t tell you. After realizing that the scarecrow somehow had a tattoo similar towards the missing man, there had to be something going on. You didn’t want to believe that it could have been the same flesh somehow skinned off his body and put on towards the stuffed scarecrow.   
  
Dean pulled up towards the gas pumps where you saw the girl from earlier lingering around. You were the first one to step out of the car. You headed up towards her, flashing a smile when her eyes landed on you.   
  
“You’re back.” She said, looking at you and Dean. A warm smile spread across her face when she approached the two of you. She stopped at the gas pumps, her hands resting inside her pockets.   
  
“We never left.” You said, shrugging your shoulders.   
  
“You both still looking for your friends?” She asked.   
  
Before you had a chance to answer her, you heard Dean speak up. “You mind feeling it up, there,” He looked down at her gold necklace that her name written in cursive. “Emily?” She nodded her head, going over towards the pumps to grab a nozzle. You watched as she headed over and crouched down as she began to fill the car up with gas.   
  
“So, did you grow up here?” Dean asked, trying to make small talk.   
  
“I came here when I was thirteen.” Emily answered, getting up from the ground as she flicked back a piece of her blonde hair. “I lost my parents—car accident. My aunt and uncle took me in.”   
  
“They’re nice people.” You commented.   
  
“Everybody’s nice here.” Emily said, turning her gaze to look at you.   
  
“So, what, it’s the perfect little town?” Dean asked, smiling as he laughed a little.   
  
“You know, it’s the boonies, but I love it here.” Emily admitted. “I mean, the towns around us, people are losing their homes, their farms. But here, it’s almost like we’re blessed.”   
  
Dean nodded his head as he kept silent for a few moments, thinking of a subtle way towards bringing up what you and him had saw back in the orchards. “Hey have you been out in the orchard? Seen that scarecrow?” He asked.   
  
Emily sighed to herself, nodding her head. “Yeah, it creeps me out.”   
  
He chuckled to himself, pretending to look at the scarecrow as nothing more than just a joke. “Whose is it?” He asked curiously.   
  
“I don’t know.” She said. “It’s just always been there.”   
  
You nodded your head, pretending to pay attention as your eyes lingered towards a red SUV that was sitting not too far from where you were standing. You noticed that the hood was popped up. “Is that your aunt and uncle’s?” You asked, pointing towards the car.   
  
Emily looked over her shoulder at the vehicle. “Customer. They had some car troubles.”   
  
“It’s not a couple, is it—a guy and a girl?” You curiously asked. She nodded her head. You smiled slightly, looking over at Dean, knowing where both of you needed to stop next. It seemed that Scotty was going to be getting a visit from the two of you again.   
  
You said a quick thank you to Emily before walking over towards Scotty’s restaurant. You stepped inside after Dean, your eyes landed towards a couple that was sitting more towards the back of the room. You noticed a handful of plates were spread across the table with all sorts of food. Scotty stood next to them. He turned his head when the door rang from above, you flashed him a smile as you waved.   
  
“Hiya, Scotty.” Dean greeted the man, closing the door behind him after you stepped inside. You watched as Scotty’s face dropped from a good host towards anger. “Can I get two coffees—black?”   
  
Both of you headed towards a table that was right across from the couple. You smiled at them when you sat down, your eyes staring at the food. You had to admit it looked rather tasty looking. “Oh, and some of that pie too, while you’re at it.” You said, turning your head to look at the man that had sneaked off to the kitchen.   
  
“How you doing? Just passing through?” Dean greeted the couple, you turned your head and smiled at the two.   
  
“Road trip.” The woman said, looking at you and Dean before paying attention towards her food.   
  
“Mmm.” Dean muttered, focusing his attention on the red and white checkered table cloth. “Yeah, us too.”   
  
Things became a bit awkward when you heard the sounds of footsteps hitting the wooden floors, you looked up to see Scotty had came back with a pitcher of what looked to be apple cider from the color. He poured the couple another glass before looking at you and Dean. “I’m sure these people want to eat in peace.” He said, his tone a bit harsh.   
  
“Just a friendly conversation.” You said, watching as he was beginning to walk away towards the back again, his was just glaring at the both of you. “Oh, and that coffee, too.” You pointed out, giving him a smile. “Thanks.”   
  
When Scotty was out of eyesight, Dean took it as an opportunity to strike up another conversation with the couple. “So, what brings you to town?” He curiously asked.   
  
“We just stopped for gas, and the guy at the gas station saved our lives.” The woman explained.   
  
“Is that right?” Dean commented, his eyes jumping around at the couple.   
  
“Yeah,” The man answered with a smile. “one of our brake lines was leaking. We had no idea. He’s fixing it for us.”   
  
“Nice people.” You said, the man mumbled a yeah before going back towards his food.   
  
“So, how long until you’re up and running?” Dean asked.   
  
The man looked over his shoulder. “Sundown.” You nodded your head, growing a bit suspicious of the odd time.   
  
Dean seemed to have been feeling the same; he leaned over in his seat so he was close enough towards the couple so his voice could drop towards a whisper. He looked at both of the with an arched eyebrow. “To fix a brake line? I know a thing or two about cars. I could probably have you two up and running in about an hour and wouldn’t charge you anything.”   
  
The couple looked at one another with hesitant faces. The woman looked at Dean, trying her hardest to smile politely at him. “You know, thanks a lot, but I think we’d rather have a mechanic do it.”   
  
Your funeral, bitch.   
  
“Sure.” Dean muttered, tapping his hand against the table. He was quiet for a few moments before trying a different angle. “You know, it’s just that these roads, they’re not really safe at night.” He said, chuckling a bit before becoming serious.   
  
The couple gave one another baffled faces, not sure what Dean was trying to get at. The woman turned her head towards Dean. Her face scrunched up as if she smelled something bad. “I’m sorry?” She asked, not sure what he had just said.   
  
“I know it sounds strange.” Dean mumbled, flashing a small smile. “But, uh, you might be in danger.” You wanted to slap him for being so straightforward.   
  
The man’s silverware clanked against the plate, he turned around and looked at Dean. He gave the oldest Winchester a serious look. “We’re trying to eat here, okay?” You nodded your head, dropping your gaze towards the table as he turned around in his seat. The air in the room became awkward as a silence dropped over the four of you for a few moments.   
  
“You know, my brother could give you his puppy-dog look, and you’d just buy right into it.” Dean muttered, his lips twitching into a small smile.   
  
But the good memory was quickly short lived when you looked up towards the entrance when you heard the bell ring. Your eyes landed on an older man dressed in a cop’s uniform. “Thanks for coming, Sheriff.” You heard Scotty’s voice as he stepped out towards the open. You looked over at Dean when panic began to rise in your body. He just looked forward, pretending to be innocent as a burglar caught red handed with valued goods.   
  
Your eyes trailed up from the table when you saw the sheriff had stopped at your table. His gaze dropped towards the two of you. “I’d like a word, please.” He said, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. You could feel head rising to your cheeks from embarrassment.   
  
“Come on.” Dean muttered. “I’m having a bad day already.”   
  
The sheriff leaned on the table, looking at Dean. “You don’t want to make it worse.”   
  
“Is that that a threat?” You dropped your voice, leaning a bit closer so you were looking at the man straight in the eye. “Empty threat, my mistake. You look like you don’t do much work around here. Epically with all those couples going missing on your watch.” You dropped your gaze towards the couple that had stiffened in their seat.   
  
“(Y/N)!” Dean hissed, giving you a glare. You looked back at the officer and smiled. But the officer wasn’t amused by the little act that you pulled.   
  
You and Dean were escorted out of the restaurant and back towards the Impala. The drive out of town was only filled with hearing the sounds of the police sirens and Dean’s complaints of how you treated the sheriff out there. You rolled your eyes when he wasn’t looking, you stared at the window and watched as the police car turned around and drove off until it was just a small figure in the background.   
  
\+ + +   
  
When the sun went down, you and Dean drove back into town to see if anything suspicious were to happen. You watched as the apple orchard came into view. There was something about the scarecrow that seemed unsettling. Hell, this entire town was crawling with a feeling that didn’t sit well with you. The nicest people always have something to hide.   
  
Dean stopped the car and turned off the engine, you reached for the handle, but his voice stopped you in your actions. You turned your head to look at him. “You’re not going out there. It’s too dangerous.” Dean said. You rolled your eyes, opening your mouth to say something. “I just want to take a look around. I’ll be back in five minutes.”   
  
“The couple’s car is right there.” You pointed forward towards the red SUV. “Something is going on. What if that thing is out there trying to get its next prey?”   
  
In a blink of an eye, you felt a tug on your wrist as you were being dragged forward. There was a clicking sound and then something cold touched your skin. It took you a few seconds to realize what Dean had just done. You tugged on your wrist as anger rose inside of you. The damn man had handcuffed you towards the steering wheel.   
  
“What the hell, Dean?” You yelled, giving the man a death glare.   
  
“Look, we’re one man short right now. I can’t have you running out there alone when this thing is looking for its next meal.” Dean explained, opening up the driver’s side door. “I’ll be back soon. Just sit tight.”   
  
You clenched your jaw in anger when you watched him head towards the trunk to grab something before disappearing altogether from your sight. You tugged at the handcuffs a few times, hoping they would miraculously undo themselves, but they remained locked.   
  
Not being the type to just sit around; you began to look around for anything that was small enough to pick this lock. Your eyes trailed around the place until you found something on the floor. You leaned down and patted your hand around, your finger tips touched what felt to be a bobby pin that you must have dropped a while ago.   
  
Snatching it from the ground, you placed the metal in between your teeth so you could space it far apart enough to put it into the keyhole. You held your breath as you placed the pin inside the handcuffs. This was your first time ever picking a lock, you prayed that you could get it undone in time before Dean came back by some chance. He wouldn’t be too pleased at the other bad habits that you were picking up from him.   
  
It felt like forever of picking it around, but you let out a breath when you heard a faint clicking noise and the pressure from your wrist loosened. You smiled to yourself, yanking your hand free. You got out from the car and headed towards the trunk so you could protect yourself before heading out to help Dean.   
  
Looking over at the selection, you settled on a shotgun that you had practiced on a few times before when you nagged Dean to teach you to shoot a while back. You grabbed the gun and slammed the trunk shut. You looked over towards the orchards and sighed, you knew Dean was going to kill you if he found you lingering around the place. But you didn’t care.   
  
You headed into the woods with what light you could see from the moon above you. All you could hear was the sound of your shoes crunching against the dead leaves. As you walked further into the orchard, your ears perked up towards the sounds of footsteps that were coming closer towards you. Taking a look around, your eyes landed towards the couple that you had seen earlier today. Their faces were stricken with pure panic as they tried their hardest to out run whatever had been chasing them.   
  
You headed towards them with your gun pointed up in the air. When you caught up with them, a gasp escape from the couple when they saw you just standing there. “Get back to your car.” You said, the man looked over his shoulder to see what had been chasing them was coming closer. You saw that it was the scarecrow from earlier. You nervously swallowed, but remained control of the situation. “Go! Go!” You demanded. The couple didn’t take any more convincing because they were running away in a second flat.   
  
Taking position to shoot your gun, you put your finger on the trigger and aimed directly at the scarecrow. You pulled the trigger and shot it directly in the chest, but it didn’t seem to stop it from charging forward, growling at you with anger. You cocked back the gun and ran forward where the couple wasn’t far behind from you, knowing that the thing was more pissed off than ever.   
  
“Go! Go!” You heard a familiar voice ring inside your ears before you aimed one more time. You pointed out the gun and shot the scarecrow in the shoulder before you felt a hand wrap around your sleeve and drag you forwards, making you run faster.   
  
All of you ran until the Impala was in view, all of you stopped running when you stopped at the car. You cocked the gun back and turned around, scanning around the woods to see if the scarecrow would returned. But nothing seemed to have moved in the distance.   
  
“What—What the hell was that?” The man questioned in a frightened tone.   
  
“Don’t ask.” You mumbled, taking one more glance around the place before lowering your gun. You looked at couple and sighed. “Get the hell out of here and don’t look back.”   
  
You didn’t need to tell the couple twice before you saw them run towards their car. They somehow got it working and practically sped down the road until they disappeared. Your gaze was turned towards Dean next when you felt the gun being ripped from your hands.   
  
“What the hell were you thinking?” He yelled, his face was scrunched up with anger. You opened your mouth to respond, but he cut you off. “Oh right, you weren’t!” He headed towards the trunk so he could place the guns back as he continued lecturing you. “Do you realize that you could have gotten yourself killed out there? This isn’t some fun little game, (Y/N). You need to stop—”   
  
“Helping?” You mocked his anger, walking up towards him with your arms crossed you're over your chest. He didn’t say anything, just slamming the trunk down. “Look, I don’t need someone by my side at every second. I’m not a child.”   
  
“Well, you’re sure acting like one.” Dean muttered, not bothering to say anything else. You watched as he headed towards the driver’s side and slip inside before the slam echoed in your ears. You scoffed to yourself and rolled your eyes, getting ready for another awkward car ride.   
  
Whoopdee, freakin doo. You bitterly thought to yourself.    


\+ + +  


“The scarecrow climbed off its cross?” Sam voice echoed through the car, his tone was as surprised as you and Dean after both of you had evaluated at what happened just a few hours ago. Dean decided to call his brother to tell him what happened. Part of you knew he just wanted to check up on him. You held the cell phone as you put it on speaker so you could hear the brothers speak, only talking when it came towards the case. You wanted to keep everything professional as you could with Sam.  


  
“Hey, I’m tell you, Burkittsville, Indiana—fun town.” Dean commented.   
  
“It didn’t kill the couple, did it?” Sam asked, the warrior that he was about everyone.   
  
“No. (Y/N) pulled a ballsy move, but she managed to save the day.” Dean said, you couldn’t help yourself but smile a bit. “I can cope without you, you know.”   
  
“So something must be animating it, a spirit.” Sam thought.   
  
“No, it’s more than a spirit.” Dean corrected his brother. “It’s a god—a pagan god, anyway.”   
  
“What makes you say that?” Sam asked.   
  
“The annual cycle of its killings, and the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman, like some kind of fertility rite.” You explained. “And you should see the locals. The way that they treated this couple, fattening them up like a Christmas turkey.”   
  
“The last meal.” Sam said, his voice trailing off a bit. “Given to sacrificial victims.”   
  
“Yeah, I’m thinking ritual sacrifice to appease some pagan god.” Dean said.   
  
“So a god possesses the scarecrow…” Sam said, “The scarecrow takes its sacrifice.” You finished this thought. “And for another year, the crops won’t wilt and disease won’t spread.”   
  
“You guys know which god you’re dealing with?” Sam asked.   
  
“No, not yet.” Dean admitted.   
  
“You figure out what it is, you can figure out a way to kill it.” Sam said.   
  
“I know. We’re actually our way to a local community college. I have an appointment with a professor. Bozo here isn’t very much help.” You said, a small smile spread across your face when you tried to joke with him. “And you know, I don’t have my trusty sidekick geek boy to do half the research.”   
  
You heard Sam chuckle, which was a good sign for you. “You know, if you two are hinting that you need my help, just ask.”   
  
“I’m not hinting anything.” Dean said, but his tone of voice changed as he spoke up again after a few moments of silence. “Actually…uh…” He stuttered out a response, chuckling nervously as he continued talking. “I want you to know, I mean, don’t think—”   
  
But it seemed that Sam knew what his brother was trying to hint at. “Yeah, I’m sorry too.”   
  
You looked over to see that Dean’s mood had changed, his eyes were fixated on the road, but you could see the sadness that was glazed over. You knew he missed his brother, but he never would straight out admit it to anyone. He was still mad about Sam running off and putting himself in danger, all though both of you knew the youngest Winchester could take care of himself. But this was Dean, he worried about you and Sam, even if he watched both of you constantly. You presumed that’s what older siblings were programmed to do.   
  
“Sam…you were right. You got to do your own thing. You gotta live your own life.” It took almost three years, but Dean’s true feelings were beginning to bubble to the surface. You looked over at him, a small smile tugging on your lips. You were proud of him, he was finally let his baby brother go out into this world on his own.   
  
“You serious?” Sam asked, you could hear the slight surprise in his voice.   
  
“You’ve always known what you want, and you go after it. You stand up to Dad. I mean, you always have. Hell, I wish I…” Dean’s voice trailed off. He broke away from the thought after a few second pause. “Anyway, I admire that about you. I’m proud of you, Sammy.”   
  
“I don’t even know what to say.” Sam mumbled.   
  
“Say you’ll take care of yourself.” You couldn’t help yourself say, your voice whispered.   
  
“I will.” Sam said, you smiled slightly.   
  
“Call me when you find Dad.” Dean said, breaking another small silence that fell between the three of you.   
  
“Okay. Bye, Dean.” Sam said. “Bye, (Y/N).”   
  
Both of you said your goodbyes before you closed your phone and put it back into your pocket. You found a piece of loose string on your shirt and began to play around with it, letting the quiet ease your racing mind. It felt weird to think that Sam was out on his alone again, you had went through it before, but this time it felt different. Maybe it was because he wasn’t trying to run away from his past and try to be safe. Sam was coming to terms with who he really was.   
  
He’ll be back, you told yourself with a positive tone. Sam was a big boy, he knew what was out there and he knew what he was getting himself into. He’s seen worse things than yourself. He wanted answers for everyone’s questions. And revenge on the demon that took the woman that he loved the most.   
  
And maybe this would be good bonding time with his father. Both of them actually smiling together instead of just yelling over the smallest things like you remembered them always doing. Now they had something to bond over with room for a new relationship to grow after this demon was caught.   
  
Everything could go back to normal; you could go home and forget about what you had to witness for these past few months. The Winchesters could go back to do they do best, working cases and saving lives. The three of them were a perfect team, they didn’t need your help.   
  
You forced a smile. Yeah, this was going to be for the best.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“It’s not everyday I get a research question on pagan ideology.” The professor said, walking beside you as both of you headed down the wide wooden staircase from his office. You decided to give Dean a small break, you knew he wasn’t very much into research. He always tossed it towards you and Sam when he got the chance. Since your other half was gone, you were a bit short of helping hands. But you decided to keep your mind occupied and dive right into the research to see what you could find.   
  
“Yeah, well, call it hobby.” You lied, flashing a convincing smile while both of you stepped down towards another staircase.   
  
“But you said you were interested local lore?” He asked, you nodded your head. “I’m afraid Indiana isn’t really known for its pagan worship.”   
  
“What if it was imported?” You asked, taking a few more steps until you walked down towards the bottom floor of the large library. “You know, like the pilgrims brought their religion over to keep themselves from being prosecuted from the English law. Wasn’t a lot of this area settled by immigrants? Like the town near here, Burkittsville. Where are their ancestors from?”   
  
“Northern Europe, I believe. Scandinavia.” The professor answered, nodding his head a bit.   
  
“What could you tell me about those pagan gods?” You curiously asked.   
  
“Well, there are hundreds of Norse gods and goddesses.” The professor said, looking at you with a small smile.   
  
“I’m actually just looking for one—might live in an orchard.” You explained, the both of you stopping in the middle of the hall. You sheepishly smiled when you saw his facial expression faltered a bit, he nodded his head and mumbled something about having something in his office. Now you were getting somewhere.   
  
Both of you walked back towards his office; you hovered around the desk as the professor excused himself to look for something. After a few moments he came back with a rather large, leather bound book and set on the desk. You leaned yourself against the desk while the professor opened up the book. He reached inside his pocket to fetch out his glasses so he could read what’s inside.   
  
“A woods god. Well, let’s see.” He placed his glasses on before flipping towards another page. You didn’t seem to find anything until your eyes landed on an old drawing that looked like a group of people plowing a part of land, but you noticed a scarecrow in the distance.   
  
“Wait, wait, wait.” You stopped the man, pointing a finger at the drawing. “What’s that one?”   
  
“That’s not a wood’s god, per se.” The professor said, taking off his glasses as he placed his free hand inside his pocket.   
  
Your eyes squinted as you read the name of the god, you knew this was going to be a tough one to pronounce. “The vanir?” You slightly stuttered out, the professor nodded his head. “'Vanir were Norse gods of protection and prosperity, keeping the local settlement safe from harm. Villages built effigies of the vanir in their fields. Other villages practice human sacrifice, one male and one female.” You read the the passage from the book.   
  
“It kind of looks like a scarecrow, huh?” You pointed towards the thing in the background, looking up at the professor with a curious glance.   
  
“Well, I suppose.” He said, smiling at your imagination.   
  
You read aloud more from the passage. “'This particular vanir, its energy sprung from a sacred tree’?” Your eyebrows furrowed together, looking at the professor to see if he could elaborate more on this information.   
  
“Well, pagans believed all sorts of things were infused with magic.” He explained.   
  
“So, what would happen if the sacred tree was torched?” You asked, getting up from the desk so you were standing up straighter. “Do you think it would kill the god?”   
  
The professor broke out in a smile a chuckle escaped his throat. “These are just legends we’re discussing here.” He said, acting as if what you had just said was the dumbest thing he’s heard all day.   
  
You clenched your jaw as you forced a smile. “Oh, of course.” You said, nodding your head. You looked at the book for a few seconds before looking back at the professor. “Listen, thank you very much.” You put your hand in front of you, he stared at it for a moment before shaking it as he smiled.   
  
“Glad I could help.” He said, you nodded your head.   
  
“Thanks again, have a good day!” You flashed a smile as you headed towards the door of his office, unknown of who lurked from behind it.   
  
When you opened it, your eyes landed on someone very familiar—it was the sheriff that had ran you and Dean out of town. You body froze up when you saw that there was a gun in his hands. Before you had a chance to say anything, he reached up and slammed the butt of the gun directly in your head, making you immediately blackout and fall towards the floor with a thump.   
  
\+ + +   
  
When you managed to get yourself back into consciousness, the first thing that you made out was someone hovering over your body. It was too dark to see who it was, but you recognized the voice when the person said your name. “Dean?” You muttered, your hand going up towards your head when you managed to get yourself up into a sitting position.   
  
You looked around at your new surroundings; it was a small space that looked like it could be a storm cellar from the height and width. Your eyes wandered upwards towards the door, it was secure enough that it couldn’t be taken down easily. But it allowed sunlight to pour through the cracks and fresh air. You sighed to yourself as you pressed a fingertip lightly towards your forehead. You winced when you touched a sticky substance that you recognized as blood. You were going to kill whoever did this to you.   
  
“Stupid town. Stupid people.” You muttered, feeling anger rise inside you. You clenched your jaw when you were beginning to realize that you and Dean were going to be used a sacrifice to a stupid tree. You couldn’t help yourself but quietly laugh, this wasn’t how you’d expect your life to end.   
  
“What’s so funny?” Dean asked, his voice a mixture of confusion and frustration.   
  
You explained to him what you had to learned about this pagan god, how it wasn’t the scarecrow but a tree that was in fact the source. “The scarecrow is kind of like a vessel for this god. In order for the town to live comfortably, they have to come forth one male and one female.” You went quiet, knowing that you and him were going to be the guests of honor. “So basically…we’re being sacrificed to a freaking tree.”   
  
Both of you fell into a small silence as you tried to think of a way to get out of here. You sat on the floor, kicking something in between your feet. You didn’t know how long you and Dean were down there, but when you heard the sound of the door squeaking above, your eyes jumped up to see who it was. Your face dropped in panic at who you saw with the other bunch of crazies from earlier, Emily. She wasn’t quite happy at what they also had planned for her.   
  
She tried to fight from her uncle’s grip as he forced her down the cellar stairs. Her aunt was standing next to the door, trying to keep a straight face as she watched her niece join you and Dean. “Aunt Stacie, uncle Harley, please.” She cried, trying to tug her way out her uncle’s grip. He didn’t say anything, he pushed her next to Dean. You watched as he looked at Emily for a few seconds, as if he wanted to say something. But remained quiet, walking up the cellar stairs to return with the rest. “Why are you doing this?”   
  
“For the common good.” Stacie simply said, her tone flat and icy. You watched as she closed the door, leaving the three of you alone once more.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“I don’t understand. They’re gonna kill us?” Emily asked, her voice full of shock at what you had tried to explain to her while you tried to pass the time. You sighed, nodding your head while you heard Dean up on the top stairs, trying his hardest to break through the door. But nothing was happening.   
  
“Sacrifice us, which is, I don’t know, classier. I guess.” Dean said, walking down from the steps and heading back towards you and Emily.   
  
You looked over at her, she seemed to be as in much shock as you. “You really didn’t know anything about this?” You asked, she looked at you with confusion.   
  
“About what—the scarecrow god?” She asked in a sarcastic tone, her eyebrows arching up. You averted your eyes towards the other side of the room. “I can’t believe this.” She mumbled to herself, turning her back on the two of you.   
  
“Well, you better start believing, because we’re gonna need your help.” You said, giving her a faint smile. “Because I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to be dessert.”   
  
She seemed to have relaxed a bit when she looked back at you, she nodded her head and let out a quiet breath. “Okay.” She said.   
  
“Now, we can destroy the scarecrow, but we got to find the tree.” You explained.   
  
“What tree?” She asked.   
  
“Maybe you can help us with that. It would be really old.” Dean said, watching as Emily slowly walked back and forth, trying to think. “The locals would treat it with a lot of respect, like it was sacred.”   
  
She was quiet for a few moments before she thought of something. “There was this one apple tree.” She explained, looking between the both of you. “The immigrants brought it over with them. They called it ‘The First Tree.'”   
  
“Is it in the orchard?” Dean asked.   
  
“Yeah, but I don’t know where.” Emily admitted, shaking her head.   
  
Before anyone else had a chance to say anything, the door opened as the familiar squeaking filled your ears. Looking up, your stomach twisted into knots when you realized what was about to happen. And Scotty pointing a shotgun at the three of you wasn’t helping the nervous feeling that began to grow.   
  
“It’s time.” Staci announced. Emily looked at you and Dean, her face was becoming written with fear. All you could do was try your hardest to look unafraid while on the inside you were screaming for a miracle to happen.   
  
All three of you walked out of the cellar in a single file, your eyes never leaving the gun that seemed to have followed your every move. Scotty’s finger lingered on the trigger, as if he was waiting for the right moment to just shoot your brains out. You looked forward and kept your breathing under control.   
  
You kept reminding yourself that you’ve seen more disturbing things with the boys. Your life has been put on the line a handful of times. But being a sacrifice was a new one for you, you had to admit. Hell, this entire situation was all sorts of messed up. Never did you expect humans to have stoop so low that they needed to murder their own flesh and blood or perfect strangers so their pretty apples could continue to grow. Sometimes you wondered if people were the real monsters in life and not the ones that linger in the dark.   
  
You winced when you felt someone grab a hold of your arm and yank you towards an apple tree, far enough from Emily and Dean. But you could see them from the corner of your eye. You turned your head to see it was the sheriff. His face was blank, but you could see the emotions in his eyes. You smirked at him as you quietly laughed.   
  
“Boy, you know how to treat a lady.” You mused when he shoved you towards the ground to sit on a layer of wet leaves. He grabbed your wrists and pinned them above your head, he continued to ignore your remarks as he bound your hands towards a tree branch with some rope. You winced again when he made sure you were tied in extra tight.   
  
“So, amuse me here.” You said, your voice becoming louder as you turned your head upwards so you could look at his towering body. “How many people have you killed, sheriff? How much blood is on your hands?”   
  
“We don’t kill them.” He answered, his tone soft. It was like he was lying to himself, saying it quietly that what he was about to do was okay.   
  
“No, but you sure cover up. I mean, how many cars have you hidden or how many clothes have you buried?” You asked, your tone becoming harder. “Of course, you’re not doing a very good job if you let the other two slip away.”   
  
The sheriff didn’t say anything, you watched from the corner of your eye as he reached over and grabbed the gun. He pointed it towards you like a warning, you fell silent as your body stiffened in fear.   
  
“Uncle Harry, please.” You heard Emily speak to her uncle.   
  
“I’m so sorry, Em.” Harley said, his voice full of sadness. You could tell he didn’t want to be doing this, but he thought it was the only way. “I wish it wasn’t you.”   
  
“Try to understand. It’s our responsibility.” Staci explained. “And there’s just no other choice. There’s nobody else but you.”   
  
“I’m your family.” Emily said, looking up at her aunt.   
  
“Sweetheart,” Her aunt bent down she was now at eye level with Emily, but she turned her head and looked the other way to keep herself from crying. “That’s what sacrifice means—giving up something for the greater good. The town needs to be saved. The good of many outweighs the good of the one.”   
  
You watched as they slowly circled all of you to make sure that you weren’t going anywhere. You clenched your jaw in anger. This was all sorts of messed up. Your eyes locked on Staci, you couldn’t help yourself but speak up one more time. “Leave Emily out of this, for God’s sake!” You said, anger rising in your voice. “Or did you piss off your little god so much you need to kill three people? One that is your own flesh and blood, if I remind you and that small brain of yours.”   
  
Nobody said anything, you clenched your jaw as they all headed off to leave the three of you out here. “I hope your apple pie is freakin’ worth it!” Dean shouted, but he went ignored like you.   
  
You watched as the cars slowly drove off until they were nothing more than just a small image in the distance. You heard Emily sniffle a few times, you turned your head and tried to see her from the other side of the orchard.   
  
“So, what’s the plan?” She asked, looking at Dean.   
  
It was quiet for a few seconds before Dean responded. “I’m working on it.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
Night had fallen, the crickets chirped away as you were starting to lose feeling in your wrists. You shifted around in your spot and sighed to yourself, all of you had said nothing this entire time. You were beginning to think that all of you were doomed.   
  
“You don’t have a plan, do you?” You couldn’t help but ask Dean.   
  
“I’m working on it.” Dean said, you rolled your eyes in frustration. “Can either one of you see?”   
  
“What?” Emily asked.   
  
“Is he moving yet?” He questioned again, you tried your hardest to turn around and look at your surroundings, but you couldn’t see the scarecrow from where you were positioned.   
  
“I can’t see.” She said, looking around. When you heard footsteps coming forward and her next response, you knew it wasn’t something good. “Oh, my god. Oh, my god!”   
  
You tugged at your restraints again, but they didn’t seem to budge no matter your efforts. You sighed out in annoyance when you felt yourself become out of breath. But when your eyes landed on a tall figure and your name being said. You saw Sam from the corner of your eye, someone that you thought you were never going to see again. Your body relax as relief filled your mind.   
  
“Oh! Oh, I take back everything I said.” Dean shouted with joy. Sam ran over towards his brother and knelled down so he could undo the restraints. “I’m so happy to see you.”   
  
“How’d you even get here?” You asked.   
  
“I, uh…stole a car.” Sam admitted, looking over his shoulder as he sheepishly smiled. You couldn’t help yourself but grin and shake your head. Typical Winchester.   
  
“That’s my boy.” Dean said, laughing to himself.   
  
“Hey, make sure to keep an eye on that scarecrow.” You reminded them. “It could come alive any minute.”   
  
“What scarecrow?” Sam asked, momentary stopping as he leaned over.   
  
You felt a panic rise up inside of you when Dean tugged off his other hand and jumped from his spot. They stared at the cross where the scarecrow should be, but it was nowhere to be seen.   
  
“As much as I would love for the two of you to bond over lost moments,” You said in a sarcastic tone as you tugged at your restraints one more time. “I’m sure Emily would agree with me that we doesn’t really want to die tonight.”   
  
You heard the sounds of shoes crunching underneath the ground until you saw Sam bend down he was now at your level. You sighed in relief when he started to untie the knot, letting your one hand drop towards your lap. You bit the inside of your cheek, knowing that it was the worst timing, but you had to say it.   
  
“I’m sorry.” You mumbled, looking at him. He glanced away from the tree to look at you, his face scrunched with confusion. “I know this is really bad timing but I didn’t mean to slap you. It was wrong of me to lash out at you because of how angry I was.”   
  
He couldn’t help himself but chuckle a bit, he threw the rope towards the ground as he reached for your hand. You grabbed it and let him pull you up. “Why don’t we focus on getting you out of here alive and worry about apologies for later?” You nodded your head as both of you walked up towards Emily and Dean.   
  
All of you began to run out of the orchard as you tried to catch Sam up of what had been happening. But it seemed hard when you were also scanning the place to see if the killer scarecrow was lurking around for its next victims for the year.   
  
“Now, this sacred tree you’re talking about.” Sam said.   
  
“It’s the source of its power.” You explained, keeping your breaths in a steady beat.   
  
“So let’s go find it and burn it.” Sam suggested, you rolled your eyes at his eagerness.   
  
“In the morning.” Dean said. “Let’s just shag ass before Leatherface catches up.”   
  
All of you ran for a few moments before you heard the sounds of footsteps coming from the distance. You turned your head to see if it was the scarecrow, but when you looked straight to see a light being shined on the four of you, your blood ran cold when you saw Staci and Harley, who was pointing a gun at all of you.   
  
“This way.” Dean said, turning towards the left side, but you saw that Scotty was approaching you, his gun aimed. You turned around and muttered a few colorful swear words when you saw the sheriff was behind you. They had you surrounded with nowhere to go.   
  
All though it seemed like the worst was going to happen, some may say it would be karma getting back at the people who had continued this vicious cycle.   
  
Growing echoed through the orchard, you looked around the place to see if you could find the scarecrow. But it was nowhere to be seen just yet.   
  
“Please, let us go.” Emily pleaded, looking at her uncle.   
  
“It will be over quickly. I promise.” Harley said. But his niece tried again. “Emily, you have to let him take you. You—AH!”   
  
Your eyes widened in shock at what you had saw next; a familiar rusty, silver hook went straight through Harley’s chest. You heard his screams of pain as Emily yelled from fright, turning around and burying her face in Dean’s chest. The scarecrow jumped up from behind the couple, he yanked out his hook as Harley’s dead body dropped towards the ground like a sack. The thing grabbed a hold of Staci’s waist, pulling her up from the ground as he leaned down and stabbed his hook into Harley's leg. You watched in horror as the scarecrow dragged his victims away as Staci screamed in protest. But nobody was there to help her.   
  
Chaos was happening all around you when you broke away from the scene that just unfolded. You looked to see that everyone was scrambling to get out of here before the scarecrow came back and decided to grab another victim.   
  
You ran as fast as you could when you felt someone tug on your wrist. You tried your hardest to block out the screaming and growling as your heart pounded inside your ears, the adrenaline was pumping through your veins. All you could focus on was getting the hell out of the place without dying.   
  
After a minute of running, you finally found yourself stopping when you saw the orchard a yard away from all four of you. You felt a shiver run down your spine when the growling and screams still continued on, echoing through the night air. Her pleas were being ignored like the countless over victims she lead towards her death. Some say she would have had it coming. All you knew was that you weren’t going to lose sleep over this.

\+ + +   


All four of you headed back towards the orchards when morning had fallen, making it the perfect time to put your plan into action. Everyone in town was probably waking up from their slumber, pretending that last night’s events were just a terrible nightmare. But it was just the beginning. With a tank of gas and a lighter, this town’s luck only had minutes left. Their precious tree that gave them good fortune was soon going to be burnt towards the ground.  
  
As you headed deeper into the orchard, there was no evidence of what happened last night. You could see no blood spatter, bodies or traces that there was a murder here. Life kept going on while the gruesome attack unfolded. Nobody in town seemed to have made a peep while the gruesome screams echoed throughout the night air, brushing it off like it was just a howling wind. And the people that were here scampered off like scared children when they finally came face to face with the thing that demanded its pray, no matter who it was.  
  
  
It’s funny, they were willing to risk a stranger’s life, their own flesh and blood to please their little god when their other attempts failed. They were too afraid to risk their own lives for the happiness of others. They knew nothing about sacrifice.  
  
  
After a minute of walking, all of you stopped at an old oak tree. You caught something that looked to be some sort of row of symbols carved into to the tree. This must be the tree that Emily was talking about, “The First Tree.” The one that has been causing this chaos for so many years, but it was soon going to be gone.  
  
  
Sam headed over towards the tree, the red plastic container of gas lingering by his side. You watched as he poured it all over the tree until there was nothing left, he shook it a bit to make sure he got every last drop. Dean bent down and grabbed a rather long branch that had to be half your size. He pulled out a lighter from his pocket, flicking it a few times before a small spark ignited. He placed the flame at the top of the branch, a few seconds later the fire grew in size.  
  
  
“Let me.” Emily said, reaching out a hand for the branch.  
  
  
“The whole town is gonna die.” Dean warned her.  
  
  
“Good.” She simply said.  
  
  
Part of you was happy for her to do just a bold thing. She knew she was going to let her friends and the townspeople she grew up with a bitter life that wasn’t going to end well. But then again, she was putting an end towards a twisted tradition that went on for so many years. She could rest a little easier knowing that nobody would ever have to go through what she witnessed last night.  
  
  
Emily walked over towards the tree and waited a few seconds before throwing the branch into the pile of dead leaves and pine needles. In just the matter of seconds, you watched the tree go up in flames. No more luck was going to come towards this town, only misery.  
Karma was one tough bitch. And they had what was coming for them.  
  
  
\+ + +  
  
  
After burning down the tree, Emily decided it was time to move on with her life. She packed up her belongings and bought a ticket for Boston where she would start clean.   
All three of you dropped her off at the station and made sure she safety boarded. You watched as she stepped on to the bus, stopping for a few moments so she could look out the window. She gave a smile, the kind that made you see happiness rating off her face. You waved and smiled back, only hoping the best for the woman.  
  
  
You watched as the door for the bus closed and a few seconds later backing up from the parking spot before driving off. “You think she’s gonna be alright?” Sam asked, looking at both you and Dean.  
  
  
“I hope so.” Dean admitted.  
  
  
“And the rest of the townspeople, they’ll just get away with it?” Sam wondered, bringing up the vicious attacks that were still going unnoticed.  
  
  
“What will happen to the town will have to be punishment enough.” You said, shrugging your shoulders. All though you wished there was more bad events for them to come, what laid ahead would just have to.  
  
  
All of you headed back towards the car, a small silence falling. You wondered if Sam was going to start up this hunt again. You didn’t want him running off, you were beginning to miss the little dork. You had to admit things wouldn’t be the same without him.  
“Can I drop you off somewhere?” Dean curiously asked, turning his head so he could look at his brother.  
  
  
“No, I think you’re stuck with me.” Sam admitted. You felt a small smile tug on your lips when you heard that. You hid it when all of you stopped walking for a few moments.  
“What made you change your mind?” You asked.  
  
  
“I didn’t. I still want to find Dad. And you both are still a pain the ass.” He said, you rolled your eyes. “But Jess and Mom…they’re both gone. Dad is God knows where. You guys, we’re all what we have left.” He quietly sighed to himself as he looked down at his feet for a few seconds. “So, uh, if we’re going to see this through, we’re gonna do it together.”  
  
  
Dean nodded his head, his response was something you had expected from him. “Hold me, Sam. That was beautiful.” You bit the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from giggling as Dean reached to put a hand on Sam’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Come on.” Sam said, smacking the hand away. Dean rolled his eyes as he began to walk  
  
away from the two of you. “You should be kissing my ass. You were dead meat, dude.”  
“Yeah, right.” Dean said, giving his brother a dirty look as he headed towards the driver’s side of the car. “I had a plan. If I got out.”  
  
  
You scoffed at his response. “You’re such a liar.” He rolled his eyes at you before sliding himself into the car. Sam stared at something in the distance for a few moments before getting in himself.  
  
  
You reached the door handle, but you were stopped in your actions when you heard the sounds of a cell phone ringing. Your eyebrows furrowed when you realized that it was yours. You dug inside your pockets and pulled it out. The number on the Caller I.D. was a familiar one. All though it was one that you hadn’t seen in a while, before you ran off with the boys six months ago for this unplanned adventure. You were nervous to see why they were calling you for.  
  
  
“Hello?” You answered, trying to hide your confusion.  
  
  
“(Y/N), is that you, dear?” On the other line was your neighbor, Betty. She had lived right across from you with her husband, Dennis. They were a cute, older couple in their seventies. But their terrible hearing aids always made conversations turn into a screaming match between lovers. “I thought you disappeared off the face of the earth.”  
  
  
“Yeah, it’s me.” You said, letting out a soft laugh.  
  
  
“It’s been since, what, October? Did you run off with that boyfriend of yours and have yourself a little fun? Out of everyone I know, you sure deserve it.” She went on, laughing at her sense of humor. You felt your cheeks beginning to grow warm from embarrassment, stuttering out an excuse, but she cut you off in mid sentence. “But anyway—I decided to swing by your home last night after I heard some unusual banging. And it seemed that someone broke inside, made a huge mess of the place.”  
  
  
“Wait, what?” You nearly shouted, panic rising in your voice. “What happened?”  
  
  
“Don’t worry, it looks like nothing was stolen. I called the police and they presume it was just a bunch of hooligans having a bit of fun. They tipped over a few pieces of furniture and broke a few plates, but it’s nothing to worry about.” Betty said, you couldn’t help yourself but roll your eyes so far they must have disappeared in the back of your head. “I just wanted to call to let you know….” Her voice trailed off.  
  
  
“Thank you so much.” You said, forcing a happy tone. But on the inside you were trying to figure out what you had just heard. “I think I’m going to take a quick swing by the old neighborhood. You know, see how bad it really is.”  
  
  
You said goodbye towards the woman and hung up your phone and shoved it back inside your pocket. You tried to process what you had just heard. How could it have been that after all these months someone tried to break inside your home? Betty was probably right. It was just a few punk teenagers that got a bit tipsy and decided to have a little fun. But you wanted to make sure the damage wasn’t too bad. You knew that the boys weren’t going to like it, but you needed to take a quick peek before all three of you headed back on the road to continue this search.  
  
  
You walked back over towards the car and slid yourself into the back seat. Letting out a quiet sigh, you decided to tell the brothers the news when you heard the engine running. “So…change of plans.” You said. “I need to go back home.”  
  
  
“I’m not a taxi, (Y/N).” Dean complained, you rolled your eyes.  
  
  
“Someone broke into my house, you ass.” You admitted, rather more harshly than you intended. You ignored their faces that change into confusion at what you had said. “I’m sure it’s nothing serious. I just want to take a peek around and see the damage, okay?”  
  
  
Dean nodded his head, turning back in his seat and began to drive. You let out a breath and leaned back in your seat. Between what you had learned about your parents earlier this week, the case that you had wrapped up and the drama that was in between all of these events. You really didn’t want to be dealing with more stress. But in order to get rid of one, you were going to need to face it. No matter how much you dreaded going back home.   
  
  
  
\+ + +  
  
  
It took half a day to get back to your own state. You felt a strange feeling sit inside your chest when you began to see the familiar scenery come into view. Even though it’s only been a half a year since you been gone, it felt like forever in your mind. Between the creepy motels and this backseat, the only thing that you were looking forward to was that bed you haven’t seen in so long.  
  
  
You couldn’t help yourself but smile when you saw the familiar home come into your view. Everything on the outside seemed how you left it, even the lawn looked like it was being attended towards. You got out of the car after Dean parked the car in the driveway. You headed up towards the front door, seeing that there was still traces of yellow police tape after it was ripped off. You bent down and took out the spare key that you hid underneath the welcome mat.  
  
  
“No wonder someone broke inside.” You heard Dean comment. You looked over your shoulder and flashed him a dirty glare.  
  
  
You stuck the key inside the lock and turned it, when you heard the deadbolt click back, you pushed the door and let it swing a bit until there was a big enough crack to slide yourself through. “Home sweet home.” You said in a sarcastic tone.   
  
  
You took a few steps inside your home as examined the aftermath of the break in. Furniture was tipped over, all the drawers and cabinets were ripped open with papers spread around the carpet. You had to watch your step when you headed towards the kitchen area. Betty was right, there was broken glass everywhere. All your mother’s precious china was on the ground, broken into little pieces, too far gone for you to event think about gluing it back together.  
  
  
You wandered around the house until you headed upstairs. There wasn’t as much damage done towards the guest bedroom and the office where you spent most of your days doing research. You flinched slightly when you saw that your precious computer, the one that caused a little over a thousand dollars. It looked like someone swung a baseball bat at it a few dozen times. You had to tear your gaze away from the scene as you headed towards your bedroom, the last spot that you haven’t checked. When you stepped inside, you had to admit that the damage that you saw was the worst.  
  
  
Your sheets were ripped off the mattress, and even that looked like someone had a little fun throwing it up against a wall. All your clothes that you left behind from your drawers and closet were either lying on the ground crumpled up or tossed on furniture. You clenched your jaw when you saw that all your picture frames from your parents towards the rare ones with the boys were ruined. It laid on the ground with the glass broken, staring back up at you with those stupid smiles that didn’t make you feel any better.  
You bent down and grabbed one picture in particular, it was a rare one, with both families sharing a happy smile. You were sitting on your father’s lap with your mother leaning down so she could be in the shot. The entire Winchester family was on the right of you; Dean was in John’s arms and little Sammy was cradled in Mary’s hands. Everyone looked so happy. You couldn’t help yourself but smile when you saw the joy still in their faces. What innocence they had left before all hell had broken loose just weeks later.   
  
  
You quickly placed a hand underneath your eye when you felt something wet slide down your cheek. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, you were more angry than sad right now. There was no denying the smell that lingered around the room; sulfur and your mother’s old perfume. It was like they were trying to taunt you, bring back memories of that night. But you weren’t going to let it bother you anymore. You weren’t going to let some soulless monsters control your emotions and make you feel weak from the chaos that they caused.  
  
  
You put the picture frame back towards your nightstand and let out a breath. There was no denying that you needed to spend some time to clean up this place. You began to make a list of things you would need to get in order to get the job done. As you were thinking, you heard the sounds of something dropping in the bathroom. You immediately broke away your gaze from the wall and looked at the room that was right across from you.  
  
  
The bathroom door was cracked open slightly, enough to see that the light was on. Your face scrunched with confusion. You left this place with nothing left on, you made sure of it. When you heard another crash, you consciously grabbed the baseball bat that you had always kept next to your bedside. You adjusted your grip on the wooden bat and sucked a deep breath in. If some little punk was still trying to have some fun, you were going to give them Hell.  
  
  
Making sure not to step on any of the squeaky boards, you slowly walked up towards the door. You stood quietly when you heard the sounds of someone breathing heavy and trying to lift something up. When you heard footsteps slowly come towards the door, you hid behind the wall and waited until the stranger stepped out into the open. Before you had a chance to see who it was, you swung the bat right at the back of their knee caps, making them fall towards the ground.  
  
  
A yell of pain and a thumping against the wooden floor echoed in your ears. You were ready to take another swing until you heard an all too familiar voice shouting your name. The stranger had turned around and waved their hands at you, trying to get your attention. When you took a moment to study their face, your eyes widened in surprise.  
“Josh?” You asked, your voice rising. “What the hell were you doing in my bathroom?”  
  
  
Before you had a chance to get your answer, you heard the sound of footsteps banging against the staircase, a few seconds later the boys came running down the hall. You heard them beginning to fire questions at you, their eyes directed towards the strange man that was lying on the ground. You placed your hand up to stop them from doing something stupid.  
  
  
“Heal, boys. He’s my neighbor’s grandson.” You explained. Your gaze directed itself towards the man that laid on the floor. “Now, what the hell are you doing here?”  
Josh timidly looked at the brothers for a few seconds before looking up at you. A guilty look spread across his face as he got up from the ground. “I heard what happened last night, so I wanted to surprise you and try to clean up this place. I didn’t think you would be home soon.”  
  
  
Typical Josh, you thought to yourself. Josh was a boy that you had known since you were fourteen years old. He moved in with his grandparents after his parents passed away in a car accident.  
  
  
He was anything less than the boy next door. He was shy when you first met him, respectful towards everyone and always made sure to say hello when he say you and your mother. You had to admit that you had a small crush on him throughout high school.  
  
  
  
Whenever someone mentioned him or you saw his face from your bedroom window, you felt your heart skip a few beats. He was a scrawny little boy that had a heart of gold, and a killer smile that could make a cold person feel a little warmth. When you finally got the courage to ask him out, he had dropped a bombshell on you. When you would be starting your junior year, he would be a senior. But he only stayed for a half a year until he headed towards a college that was halfway across the country.   
  
You haven’t seen him in well over eight years after he left. But what you saw standing in front of you wasn’t the same skinny seventeen year old, he was so different looking. He was well a little six feet tall, but not quite as tall as Sam. You noticed that he had filled out, your eyes noticed how his white shirt showed an outline of muscles. Your eyes trailed back up towards his face, his messy brown hair that you remembered was now shaven off into a buzz cut. His blue eyes were staring at you, a small smile tugged on his lips again.  
  
You couldn’t deny that he seemed that he had gotten even more handsomer.  
“I g-got it.” You said, returning the smile as you felt your cheeks becoming a rosy red. Suddenly you felt like you were sixteen again, making an idiot out of yourself as you tried to ask him out. “I mean, it’s okay. Thanks for trying to clean up this mess, it was really nice of you.”  
  
  
“Hey, it’s no problem.” Josh said, shrugging his shoulders. You smiled again as you opened your mouth to say something, but you ended up pausing for a few seconds until someone spoke up for you.  
  
  
“Why don’t you show your friend out? Sam and I will check on the rest of the house for damage.” You turned your head to see that Dean was looking at you. He was trying his hardest not to break out into laughter from your sudden shyness. You wanted to smack that grin right off his face.  
  
  
You flashed the man another dirty glare while Josh wasn’t looking. But you broke out into a smile when you locked eyes with Josh again. “Why don’t I show you to the door?” You asked, Josh nodded his head.  
  
  
You and him walked towards the stairs and fell into a small silence. You looked at him from the corner of your eye, he was staring at you, like he was trying to figure out what to say. You cleared your throat. “So, how has college been?” You curiously asked, breaking the awkward silence.  
  
  
Josh sheepishly smiled, he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “I know you’re not gonna believe it, but I dropped out six months ago.” He admitted. You looked at him with a bit of shock, he wasn’t the type to just give up so easily. “My grandparents weren’t too happy about the fact that my break ended up being longer than they intended. But it wasn’t for me, you know? I wasn’t happy just sitting inside a classroom, being taught information that I was finding to be useless.”  
  
  
You nodded your head as both of you stepped down from the staircase and headed towards the front door while he continued talking. “And I had to admit, I was getting a bit homesick. I missed my family and some old friends.” You felt your cheeks begin to warm back up when you felt his gaze being drawn towards your face. “I came to realize that sometimes you need to go back to your old roots to find out who you really are.” He said, letting in a breath.  
  
  
“So I decided to change my major to education. I’m actually helping out at the local high school for some extra credit. And you know, it’s strange,” He said, you gave him a curious look. “While I was talking to a few teachers that we had, they seemed to have remembered you and not me. Even Mr. Burns had nice things to say about you.”  
  
  
“Really?” You asked, your eyebrows arching up in surprise.   
  
  
All though you had been a fairly quiet student, there was one time that you argued with your tenth grade biology teacher. It was about the failing grade he gave you when you refused to dissect a fetal pig. You and him yelled at one another about it until you were blue in the face. Never did you think he would even want to mention your name again towards another human being. Let alone, say nice things about you towards his star pupil, Josh.  
  
  
“But enough about me, what have you been up to?” He asked, your smile faltered slightly.  
“Well,” You began. You tried to think of something while you were put on the spot. “I’ve been mostly just doing stuff. I managed to get a job where I work from home, so it’s nice.”  
  
  
“Really? That must be nice to sit up in this huge house by yourself all day.” Josh said.   
You shrugged your shoulders and smiled. “It gets a little lonely sometimes.” You admitted. “But I don’t think I would have it any other way.”  
  
  
“I know this is really stupid of me to be asking this, but I’m just curious.” Josh said, his shyness slowly bubbled towards the surface. “My grandma said you’ve been gone for the last six months. You just up and left. Why is that?”  
  
  
“I was on a road trip with my friends, the ones that you met upstairs. Their dad was missing and they wanted my help to find him.” You explained as best as you could without going into the truth. “We found him held up in some motel room. He gets pretty caught up in the cases that he takes—because he’s a private investigator. He helps people with special problems.” You covered yourself, trying to make it sound as real as possible.  
  
  
“Interesting.” Josh said, nodding his head. “I’m presuming they’re brothers?”  
  
  
“Yeah, the blonde one is Dean, he’s the oldest. He’s kind of a dick sometimes, but I couldn’t picture him any other way.” You joked, smiling when Josh laughed a bit. “And the other one is Sam. He’s the youngest and a big nerd. I’ve known them both since I was young.”  
  
  
“Really? It must be nice to have such close friends.” Josh said.  
“Yeah. But I feel like they’re my brothers from how much time we spend together. And don’t get me started on their arguing.” You said. “It was like being stuck in a car with an old married couple.”  
  
  
You made an impression of a recent argument the brothers had on the way up here. While you and Josh were laughing about it, you didn’t seem to notice their lingering presence until one of them cleared their throat. You quieted your laughing when you turned your head to see the brothers staring at you, obviously not amused with what you had been saying about them.  
  
  
“Um, I gotta get going.” Josh said, swallowing a laugh as he felt the glares coming from the brothers. He looked back at you and smiled again. “It was nice seeing you. Hopefully we can do it again?”  
  
  
“I don’t know, we’ll see what happens.” You said, biting your bottom lip to keep a smile from growing across your lips. You said goodbye towards Josh, watching as he headed out the front door. You closed it behind him and averted your attention towards the brothers, who didn’t seem to be very happy at your mood. “What?”  
  
  
“Your house got broken into and you look like you’re on cloud nine.” Dean said, you rolled your eyes at how hypocritical he was being. “You should be paying more attention. Because it looks like you forgot to notice—“  
  
  
“That the house reeks of sulfur? That my entire house looks like a tornado blew into it while we were gone? Which conveniently happened when your dad found out what killed your mom and Jess?” You asked, giving him an annoyed look. “Look, I know what’s going on. I’m not stupid.”  
  
  
“I didn’t say—”  
  
  
“Whatever. I’m too tired to argue with you. All I want to do is get this place cleaned up and go to bed. Then when we’re done, both of you are teaching me the basics.” You said, walking away from the door and going towards the kitchen. You heard them question what you were talking about. “You know, hunter skills. What I need to know how to protect myself and what not.”  
  
  
“You seriously want to help us catch this thing, don’t you?” Sam asked, you shrugged your shoulders.  
  
  
“After all the things that you saw. The motel rooms that you complain about. Your life constantly being on the line and being stuck with us for six months months wasn’t enough?” Dean questioned.  
  
  
“Obviously this has to be some really weird coincidence or something is giving me a threat. I’m not safe here.” You said while a small smile spread across your face. “And whether you want to admit or not, you’re stuck with me for the long haul until I know this demon is back in Hell where it belongs.”  
  
  
\+ + +  
  
  
it was almost three in the morning when you found peace and quiet. After taking a few hours of getting this place back to normal, the boys decided that they were as serious as you about teaching you a few skills if you were going to continue with them on the road. You found yourself getting a headache from all the knowledge about exorcisms to the simplest things about salt and burns.  
  
  
Then your muscles ached from the countless times you felt your body being slammed into the ground. Sure you had gotten lucky a few times when it came towards taking someone down while on a hunt. But what happens when someone twice your size is coming after you? What if they have a knife to your throat? What you dropped your weapon? What do you if— blah, blah, blah.   
  
  
All their questions were becoming a blur inside your mind when you thought about it again. All you could remember was that your size can either be your greatest weakness or a blessing. If you pay attention, you can always outsmart your opponent. And if given the chance, make sure to look for their weaknesses.  
  
  
You learned that your brains could be used for more than just doing research. You had managed to take down both the boys after having your ass kicked a dozen times. You took down Dean in a few moves, pinning him down after he began to taunt you. He hadn’t been paying attention, so you went for the back of his knees, a weak spot for anyone, you pinned him down into a choke hold. He went down quicker than his next joke that he tried to pull. Sam was a bit tougher; he blocked almost every punch or kick that you tried. But you managed to avert his attention before tackling him towards the ground.  
  
  
All of you retired for the night after spending longer than you intended on training. Dean took the guest bedroom while Sam crashed in your office that had a day bed. You retreated towards your bathroom with your favorite shower gel and towel in hand. You decided to end the day with a warm bath, something to soothe the sore muscles that were beginning to scream with each move that you took.  
  
  
Closing the door behind you, you locked it just in case one of them needed to use the bathroom. You headed towards the large tub and began to turn the knobs until the warm water began to pour out.  
  
  
Letting it fill up, you get up and began to strip off your clothes. When you turned your head, you caught a glimpse of yourself in the full length mirror. It wasn’t something that you had been expecting when you examined your reflection.  
  
  
This wasn’t the same girl that you saw six months ago. She was something far different, and you had to admit, you like the girl in the mirror better.  
  
  
Your fingers traced the bruises that were beginning to form from the training session from earlier. It blended from the faint little marks that were spread across your body. Part of you should be disgusted of how your body looked after the rough treatment you put it through after all these months. All though, you couldn’t help yourself but think that each scar had a story. It was a reminder of how strong you never realized you were when you were at the brink of death.  
  
  
You looked to see that the tub was full with the smell of your favorite scent lingering in the air. You went over and turned off the water, you ran your fingers over the top to see that it was the perfect temperature. You stripped off the rest of your garments and pulled your hair out of the way so it wouldn’t get covered in bubbles. You stepped inside the tub and sighed in relief, you let your body sink down towards the bottom as you closed your eyes.  
  
You let your mind wander as you scrubbed your body with a scented soap. It was funny to think that six months ago you left with Dean thinking that you would be stuck with him in a car for hours, listening to classic rock and trying your hardest to keep yourself sane. You thought you would find John in a motel room, going insane over some case he was working on. Never in your wildest dreams did you think that the opposite would happen.  
  
  
You seriously thought it was only going to be for a few days, a week tops. You never believe that Sam was going to be apart of the journey and give all three of you a bonding experience that made all of you grow closer. You felt your smile slowly grow into a frown.   
  
  
“Damn demons.” You muttered to yourself. You fixed your gaze on the wall, making a mental note that soon there was going to be peace. You could leave the creatures behind and never think about them again.   
  
A small laugh escaped your lips as you shook your head. Well, it was a nice thought.  
  
\+ + +  
  
Next door, a pair of blue eyes stared out his bedroom as a smirk spread across his lips. It was rather interesting to have seen her up close and personal from all the stories that speculated about her. Some say she looked just like her mother, but he could see that she was just like her father. She had his eyes and something a bit more that still wasn’t showing. It had been over six months since one of them had seen (Y/N), losing track of her after so many years of hard work. But it seemed that she remained the same, nothing unusual was about her.  
  
Just a little bit longer, he thought to himself. Just until she was alone again. Then they would make their move.

_ Twenty Four Years Ago: _   
  
Ella slowly walked out towards the middle of the road, trying her hardest to see the icy patches on the ground to keep herself from slipping and hurting herself. She couldn’t see much in the dead of night, the street lights above didn’t help and the flashlight was too tiny to give her much vision of where she was walking. Being eight months pregnant and disobeying doctor’s orders to stay in bed wasn’t the brightest idea she’s had all day. But she needed to get this done before her husband found out she was missing from the house. If he did, panic would rise and everything that she had planned would be ruined.   
  
She peaked inside the wooden box to see if she had everything; a picture of herself, graveyard dirt, a black cat bone, and a yarrow. They were all odd items that took her a while to find out, but she remembered all the things from her hunting days. It was funny how all those years of hunting these things, she was about to try and bargain with them for something that she wanted. Ella hoped that she hadn’t made a reputation with them. After all, they were her last chance.   
  
Rubbing a hand over her swollen stomach, Ella remembered the first time she made a deal. It was just a year ago she was standing in the exact same spot. She wasn’t thinking straight of the consequences that laid ahead, or how many precious years she had before it would be all over.   
  
Ella had tried everything to get pregnant, all the medicines didn’t work. And whenever she found herself carrying, she would have an unfortunate miscarriage just weeks later. She was about to give up hope that nothing would work out, until she made a discovery from her hidden past.   
  
Ella had been doing some spring cleaning when she stumbled upon a few old notebooks from her hunting days. She thought she had burned these with the rest of her belongings. There was pages and pages full of notes from her research, interviews from people that claimed to be witnesses of demon attacks and so much more. Ella couldn’t part with this, that was her entire life’s work. And it was just sitting in the closet, collecting dust and just waiting for her husband to see them and awkward questions to be raised she didn’t want answered.   
  
She spent the rest of the afternoon just curled up on the floor. rereading the notes while Andrew was at work. The books were mostly filled with a certain demon that seemed to have made a pattern that didn’t settle well in Ella’s stomach. She had spent years tracking this thing, waiting for the right moment to kill it and send it back where it belonged. It was the only thing she could think about for so many years.   
  
But as she grew older, the real life she had been avoiding eventually caught up with her. First it was all her friends that she had loosely kept in contact with. They were getting married, having babies—being normal, happy. Something that Ella hadn’t been in such a long time. Then the next thing she had to deal with was her parents.   
  
Her mother retired from hunting when she hit her forties after the doctor’s found a tumor growing in her lungs. She died just six months later. Her father was a mess without the woman he loved. He had always gotten used towards the twisted idea that one of them would die because of something different or unusual. He didn’t know why, but he could settle with the idea of her heart being ripped out by a werewolf or her neck being snapped by a demon.   
  
There was something about seeing his wife slowly decaying towards a skeleton that drove him insane. Maybe it was because that he couldn’t do anything to protect her, his powerful wife wasn’t able to win like she always somehow had. He died from alcohol poisoning a few weeks later after they buried her. He was found just lying in his own vomit and an empty bottle of Jack just inches from his fingers.   
  
Ella decided that was her final sign that she needed to get away from it all. She needed a normal life. So she burned what she could and packed up her belongings. She caught the first plane to Kansas and hoped for the best. It ended up being one of the best decisions she made. After settling herself down, she tried her luck at having a bit of fun. She went to a small bar that wasn’t far from her apartment hoping for a cold beer and a relaxing night. Instead she found herself locking eyes with a man named Andrew…and well, you know the rest of the story.   
  
Her fingers twitched slightly when she thought about what she was going to do. She loved the man, he was like her knight and shining armor. He whisked her thoughts away from her dark past and made it known that he would love her no matter what. She tried to tell herself that it would be enough, just the two of them living somewhere with a cute dog and complete silence. There would be no screaming or having to change a diaper at three in the morning, she could live the rest of her life in happiness. But when she saw her friends have a baby boy just a year ago, Ella knew there was no more lying to herself.   
  
She buried the box inside the small hole she had dug earlier tonight. Ella stuck her hands inside her pockets and tried her hardest to get warm while she waited. Looking up after a few seconds, she noticed how the lamp above her began to flicker as she heard the sounds of footsteps crunching on the dirt below them. She sucked in a breath and waited for someone to speak.   
  
“Oh my, have the mighty have fallen.”   
  
Ella turned around to be faced with a rather handsome man that looked to be just a few years older than her. He stood in front of her with a handsome smirk, a black suit and blood red tie. It was like he was dressed to kill.   
  
“Back again so soon, Ella?” He taunted in a sickly sweet voice. He chuckled to himself when he watched the woman’s lips twitch in anger. The demon’s black eyes trailed down towards her pregnant stomach that peeked through her jacket. “Are you here to exchange your little bundle of joy for your soul back?”   
  
“Fuck you. I’m here to make another deal.” Ella said, her voice cold as ice.   
  
The demon’s eyebrows arched up, pretending to be surprised at her tone. “My, aren’t you a feisty one. I can see why Andrew picked you.” He mused himself. “You know the rules—one deal for one soul. I know you’re not that dumb, darling.”   
  
“That’s why I want to sell my husband’s soul.” She said in a calm tone. “I want to give him two years and the other eight years will be given to me.”   
  
The demon pretended to think about it for a few moments before telling his answer. “No.”   
  
Ella’s nails dug into her palm, anger was becoming the best of her. “What? What do you mean no? I’m giving you two souls. That’s not good enough for things like you?”   
  
“I’m just following orders.” He explained, shrugging off her anger as if it was nothing.   
  
He wasn’t quite in the mood for a pregnant woman’s hormone induced argument. He had other important things to worry about. But as he thought about it, an idea popped into his head. It was something so brilliant that he didn’t know why it hadn’t come to him sooner.   
  
As that saying goes, it was like killing two birds with one stone.   
  
“You know on second thoughts, I might have another deal that would make you quite a happy woman.” The demon said. He watched as Ella’s face slowly peaked up with slight interest. But he could see the curiosity lingering in her eyes. “I’ll give you what you want. If you give me something in return. But here’s the catch—I can’t tell you what it is. So, do you feeling a bit trustworthy? Do we have a deal, darling?”   
  
Before she had a chance to ask what it was, the answer just slipped out her mouth without much other thought, knowing that she would have to learn about the consequences the hard way. What she said was going to really piss off the demon that made her first deal, ironically it was the one that she had been hunting all those years. But she didn’t care anymore, she wasn’t afraid of what was going to happen.   
  
“Deal.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
Several Decades Ago.   
  
(Warning: Swearing, mentions of violence and small spoilers for 08 x 22.)   
  
Andrew had learned a lot through his different lives that he lead before up to this moment. But nothing had quite prepared for what he was about to go through. The devil’s trap on the floor had his powers on lock down, which only made him angrier. His blood boiled as he heard the sounds of voices coming from the other side of the makeshift wall.   
  
They were planning, making sure everything was precise for this little experiment that they were going to do on him like some fucking lab rat. He scoffed at this entire dilemma he had found himself in. And those hunters thought his kind were the real monsters.   
  
This wasn’t happening, Andrew bitterly thought to himself. Those fucking humans. He couldn’t wait until one of them screwed up this little experiment and set him free. Andrew wanted to feel his teeth sink into their throats and rip their flesh off. He wanted to see their blood run down their bodies as they gasped for the last moments of breath before they died.   
  
He didn’t spend all those years in Hell being tortured for it all to go to waste because a group of hunters wanted to play doctor on a broken soul. What would happen if word had gotten out? Little Andrew wasn’t so tough as the demons thought he was. How they would whisper and giggle at how pathetic he was. How they thought he didn’t give up much of a fight for a chance to get his humanity back.   
  
Rumors have speculated for centuries that it was possible to cleanse a demon soul, but everyone brushed it off like it would never happen. He didn’t want to be human again. He wasn’t going to have the misfortune of having to deal with emotions, he liked being the way he was. Andrew wasn’t a monster. He was happy. Never did he think about having the chance at a normal life with a wife and kids. That might have been a life for his old self before he sold his soul. But this was new and improved Andrew. And he wasn’t going anywhere.   
  
His eyes jumped up from the floor as he heard the sounds of the wall being moved as the familiar faces appeared in his vision. He bared his teeth as he growled at them, he wasn’t going down without a fight.   
  
But a little voice inside his head knew he was trying to win a losing battle. There was no chances of him being a demon again after they got done with him.   
  
\+ + +   
  
_ Present Day: _   
  
(Y/N) was a quite a strange girl, but she didn’t know it yet. She would spend her entire life in the dark before it caught up to her in a way that she never saw coming. Daddy was a demon before a group of hunters turned him into a human. Mommy sold her soul so she could have her daughter. But when she found out she had only ten years, she called up another demon like it would solve her problems and put her husband’s soul on the line, not having a clue about his past. She thought it would make things right. But it only made things worse on herself and their little bundle of joy.   
  
She didn’t know that her intentions of a happy life would piss off a certain demon that gave her what she wanted in the first place. The fact that she even had the audacity to come back and beg for more is what made him ticked off. But when the demon realized her husband was the one that he had been looking for all those years, he decided to give into her deal, giving them an added bonus that none of them had expected. Unfortunately they hadn’t lived long enough to see this little plan unfold, he had others that would do that for him.   
  
For a number of years, someone had always been watching Ella and her daughter, just waiting to see it happen. It had been twenty-four years before (Y/N) slipped through their fingers without a trace with those boys. They tried everything to see if they could find her, but six months went by and nothing seemed to have given a trace of where she was.   
  
They decided to have a little fun one night. Their patients were running thin, there was a group of teenage boys that would be the perfect meat suit to get the job done. The demons made sure it looked real enough to be a break in. Tables were flipped over, dishes were broken, they looked over every little detail she had lying around to see if they could figure out where she ran off to. Of course, there was nothing useful.   
  
But they weren’t going to give up just yet. One of them looked out the window and saw the young man that lived next door towards her. A small smile crept on his lips when he thought of a perfect idea that was foolproof. Why waste the energy looking for someone when you can have them come to you without even having to lift a finger.


	11. Faith.

All three of you thought this was going to be a typical hunt, the kind that you shoot first and ask questions later. The case that you were looking into was a double homicide and a kidnapping case. Two little children were reported missing after neighbors found their parents viciously mauled to death. Looking further in the evidence that the police had found and doing a bit of research of your own, the trail had lead towards a possible demon attack.   
  
A heavy scent of sulfur lingered air when all of you inspected the home. And if that wasn’t enough proof, you dug a bit further to see more fingers pointing towards a soulless killer lurking around. There had been reports of a lighting storm, flickering lights and glitches in TVs or radios in the neighborhood that were being reported just a few days before the murders.   
  
It took another handful of days until you located where the demon was hiding out. You saw the abandoned home from the backseat window as Dean pulled up and killed the engine. All you kept thinking about was killing this soulless monster and getting those kids out of harm’s way. They had already seen so many horrible things, you wanted to make sure that it would end tonight before worse could happen.   
  
You slipped out of the car and walked up towards the boys. Both of them were leaning over the trunk as they took a peak around the secret compartment, trying to see what they could use to kill this demon. After a few moments of throwing around random guns and knifes, Dean pulled out a taser. From where you were standing it looked like an ordinary gun. All you had to do was point and shoot it at the demon, simple enough for eve you to handle.   
  
“What do you got those amped up to?” Sam asked.   
  
“Hundred thousand volts.” Dean said. You whistled in astonishment as you grabbed the taser, you looked it over while Sam mumbled something you couldn’t quite catch “Yeah, I want this rawhead extra freaking crispy. And remember, you only get one shot with these things, so make it count.”   
  
You glanced down for a moment to make sure that everything was all set. You reached inside your pocket and grabbed your small flashlight, knowing that it was going to be dark in there. When you looked up for a second, just enough time to catch two pairs of green eyes staring at you. You tilted your head towards the side and let out a quiet breath of annoyance. They were doing it again. The brothers had promised you that you could tag along for this hunt, all though it was a demon, the only real creature they still didn’t quite feel comfortable with you around.   
  
“Guys, I’ll be fine.” You said. In all honestly, you had been itching to kill this demon. After you had realized there was small children involved, you wanted to shoot the thing yourself.   
  
But knowing the brothers, they would make some speech of how they wanted to keep your safe. You watched as Dean opened his mouth, making your suspicions right. You pointed a finger at him, “We have precious time here guys, please don’t waste it on some stupid speech. I’ll stay behind both of you. Kind of like backup just in case something goes wrong.”   
  
That seemed to have been good enough for them to hear. All of you quietly headed up towards the front steps of the home, making sure not to make any loud noises that could trigger an echo. You stayed behind like promise as the boys stepped inside the front door and looked around all the rooms of the house. You looked everywhere to see if you could find any evidence if someone was around, but the entire place looked deserted. When you were losing hope, your eyes landed on a door that nobody had opened yet. You looked at the boys and gestured towards the strange room.   
  
The boys wandered towards it, Dean put his hand on the knob and slowly turned it. He peaked as he pushed open the door, it was the basement. You followed behind the brothers as they headed down the stairs first. You took your first step on the wooden staircase and flinched when you heard the sound of it creaking underneath your weight. But you didn’t let that stop you as you quietly tiptoed your way down and stepped on the ground. You looked around the room to see if there was anything around the place. But your ears perked up towards something that made you stop in your tracks.   
  
There was a strange rustling sound like doors that made you turn around. Your eyes jumped towards an old wooden armoire that sat just across from where you were standing. All of you slowly approached it with caution. You could hear the noises getting louder, you adjusted your grip on your taser as you waited.   
  
“On three.” Dean whispered just loud enough for you and to hear. “One…Two…Three!”   
  
Dean reached over and opened up the doors, what you saw sitting on the ground wasn’t what you were expecting—but you were happy at the sight. The two little children that you had been looking for were on the ground, Their tiny hands were covered over their ears as they screamed in fright. You bent down so you were at eye level with them. You scanned their appearance to see that they were filthy, but alive and without a scratch on them.   
  
“Is it still here?” Sam whispered towards the children. They nodded their heads.   
  
“Come on, grab your sister’s hand. We’re going to get out of here.” You said, grabbing the little boy’s hand as they jumped up from the ground and followed you behind. Sam took the lead as you placed them in front of you. “Let’s go. Let’s go.”   
  
Dean took another look around the place to see if the demon was around, but the coast was clear. He nodded for the rest of you to head upstairs, you pushed the children slightly as they began to run up the steps without another warning. They managed to get towards the top safely before you heard a growl echo in your ears and a scream from the children at what happened next.   
  
The demon must have been lurking behind the staircase. It’s hand reached out from the small opening and grabbed a hold of Sam’s ankle. He stumbled a bit from the sudden attack, but he managed to catch himself on the third step. Dean took a few steps away from the rest of you. He peaked his head towards the other side of the staircase to see if he could find the demon, and it was still there. When he caught a glimpse of it, he quickly pressed down on the trigger. But the demon must have vanished before Dean could get a clear shot at the thing because the next thing you heard was the same spine chilling growl echo in your ears. You silently cursed to yourself at what was happening.   
  
“Sam, get them out of here!” Dean shouted at his brother.   
  
The youngest Winchester didn’t argue at that command, he quickly got up from the stairs and aimed his arm to throw his own taser at Dean. “You take this.” He threw the weapon at his brother, Dean caught it and dropped his own towards the ground. Seconds later you heard Sam running up the steps and shouting commands at the children to get to safety.   
  
It was just you, Dean and the demon.   
  
You split up from Dean so you could cover a bit more ground and get this thing out of your hair once and for all. You made your way through the basement, trying to see with the little area of light the flashlight was giving you . All you could hear was the pounding heartbeat ringing in your ears and the drip drops of water from the leaky pipes above your head. Maybe you should have stuck with Dean, you thought. This was a demon you were dealing with.   
  
You sucked in a deep breath as you adjusted your grip on the taser. No, you had come in contact with them before. You can do this. “Come out wherever you are, you ugly son of a bitch!” You taunted. You thought that it would bring the demon out of its hiding spot, giving you enough time to shoot the thing and end it here. And that’s what happened, but not in the way that you were expecting.   
  
You turned around when you heard the sound of something dropping from behind you. When you saw the demon standing right in front of you, you aimed to shoot. Before you had a chance to pull the trigger, his fist punched you directly in the jaw making you stumble backwards and fall into a puddle. The taser fell from your grip as it jumped a few feet from you.   
  
You tried to brush off the pain that began to throb in your head from hitting it roughly against the brick wall. You looked around to see where the demon was lurking around. When you caught him popping out from a corner, you had little time to think about what you were going to do next. You acted on the first thought that came to your mind.   
  
Point and shoot. Point and shoot. Point and shoot. Point and shoot.   
  
You repeated the mantra inside your head as you quickly stumbled towards your hands and knees when you saw the taser lying on the ground just a few feet away. The demon was getting closer, but you managed to be faster than him. You grabbed the taser and threw your back against the wall. You pointed it at the demon and shot directly at his chest.   
Everything went how you wanted it to; the taser latched towards the demon, the shock had killed it like you had wanted. But you failed to see the problem of holding a taser in a puddle of water before it was too late.   
  
You dropped the taser towards the ground when you felt a horrible sensation run through your body. It felt like your entire body was being shaken through the core as your heart felt like It was beating so fast it could jump through your chest. It was like rubbing socks against the carpet and touching someone, but a million times worse. The pain had lasted only for a half of a minute, but it was enough to make you slip out of consciousness.   
  
An eerie quietness fell in the basement didn’t make a nice feeling settle in Dean’s stomach. He heard the sound of footsteps pounding against the stairs and a few seconds later your name being frantically shouted by Sam. He cursed underneath his breath as he darted towards the front of the basement where he left you, alone.   
  
Dean stumbled upon a scene that made his heart skip a beat in fear. You were lying on the ground, not making a single move while Sam tried his hardest to get something out of you. Dean ran towards his brother as he dropped towards his knees when he was close enough towards the both of you.   
  
“What the hell happened?” Dean barked out.   
  
“I don’t know. She was like this when I found her.” Sam answered. He pressed two fingers against your neck to check for a pulse. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt a few beats, it was weak, but you were still clinging towards life. “Call 911.”   
  
Dean shoved his hands inside his jacket pocket. He patted around, cursing underneath his breath when the damn thing couldn’t be found. Panic began to rise in his body, thinking that he left it. When he found the phone, he pulled it out and flipped it open as he quickly punched in the three numbers. As he pressed the phone towards his ears, his green eyes never left your unconscious body. He just hoped that you would hold on a bit longer before your heart gave out like he had silently feared.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You woke up in a hospital bed with no idea how you had gotten here. You heard the sounds of a heart monitor ring inside your ears as you sniffed something that made your nose burn from the harsh chemicals. You laid in the bed and kept just for a few moments, thinking about what had landed you here in the first place. All you remembered was being on a hunting trip with the boys, trying to kill the demon with the taser—-suddenly It hit you.   
  
Electricity and water do not mix.   
  
You tried your hardest to get yourself up into a sitting position so you could figure out where everyone was. But that didn’t seem like a good idea because next thing you knew there was a sharp pain spreading through your chest. You had to lay back down as you sucked in deep breaths after the air was knocked out of you from the pain that was slowly subsiding towards a dull ache.   
  
Knocking on the door made you turn your head to see who it was. The door opened a few seconds later to reveal a male doctor. He smiled warmly at you while carrying something that looked to be a file. You bit the inside of your cheek as he walked up towards the front of your bed, he opened up the file and began to flick through a few pages.   
  
“Good morning, (Y/N). I see you’re finally awake.” He said, glancing up from the papers. “How are you feeling today?”   
  
“Like someone stabbed me in the heart.” You muttered in a dry voice. You desperately needed a glass of water, but you had too many questions to ask. “How long have I been out of it? What happened to me?”   
  
“You’ve suffered a severe heart attack from an electric shock.” The doctor explained. “We gave you some medication that would help you sleep so you weren’t up all hours in pain. You gave your friends quite a scare.”   
  
“I’m afraid to ask,” You said, your eyes trailing away from the wall that you had been staring at towards the doctor. “How bad is it?”   
“The electric shock towards your body trigger a severe heart attack. Odds aren’t looking good, I’m afraid.” He was quiet for a few moments before he delivered you the bad news. “You have a few weeks towards a month, tops. I’m sorry to have to inform you.”   
  
  
You licked your dry lips as you sucked in a deep breath. Part of you should be sad about the news that he had given you. But strangely, you were comfortable with it. In the back of your mind you had always known that there was a possibility you would get hurt, or worse, dead. You were going to have to subside the grief for another time live out these next few weeks comfortably and happily.   
  
“I’ll be back about ten minutes to check your vitals and give you some more medication.” The doctor closes the file and smiled at you again. He walked over towards a small table where a portable TV sat. He grabbed the remote and rolled over the table so it was next to you. “Meanwhile get some rest. You have two visitors that would like to see you soon.”   
  
You managed to say thank you as you watched the doctor head out of the room, quietly closing the door behind you. You leaned back in the bed and clicked the ON button. Well, there was no use in crying or dwelling on the subject. There had to be something on TV to distract your mind from the news that you heard.   
  
You flipped through all the channels four times until you heard the sounds of the door being opened again before quietly being shut behind. From the corner of your eye, you saw the brothers slowly make their way towards your hospital bedside. You continued to flick through the channels while you felt their eyes just stare at you.   
  
“Have you ever actually watched daytime TV? It’s terrible.” You said, breaking the awkward silence that was starting to annoy you.   
  
You heard Sam sigh as he looked down at his feet for a few seconds before returning his gaze towards your face. “I talked to your doctor.”   
“That fabric softener teddy bear—ooh,” You amused yourself when you clicked towards the same commercial for the third time. “I want to hunt that little bitch down.”   
  
But that didn’t seem to be funny to you as the boys. You heard footsteps approach the bed and then the remote being yanked out of your hands. You turned your head to see that Dean had turned off the TV. His face was hard, but you could see the sadness glazed over in his eyes.   
  
“(Y/N).” Dean said, you watched as he observed your face for a few moments.   
  
“Yeah, I’m not so pretty looking right now. Haven’t you heard? I had a bit of a shocking experience.” You joked, making yourself chuckle but that didn’t seem like good idea because the next thing you were doing was coughing rather harshly. You clutched your chest and winced as a sharp pain ran through you again. “I’m fine. I’m fine.” You managed to say before making them panic   
  
You managed to get yourself back to a stable state to see how the boys were dealing with. They almost as looked as worse as you, their faces were written with stress. They hovered over your bed like you were planning to jump and escape. You knew what they were hinting at, you sighed and rolled your eyes.   
  
“Right, well,” You threw the remote towards the bed after you clicked off the TV. “Looks like you two are leaving town without me.”   
  
“What are you talking about? We’re not leaving you here.” Sam said, but you didn’t listen to him. You averted the conversation somewhere else.   
“Make sure to keep that car clean, it’s getting kind of dirty. And don’t fight over every little thing like you two do. Or I swear,” You pointed a finger at both of them as you slightly smiled. “I’ll haunt your asses.”   
  
“That’s not funny.” Dean muttered as Sam shook his head, you could see the small smile that tugged on his lips. You let out a small, breathy laugh.   
  
“Oh, come on, it’s a little funny. I think it would be something you would say if you were in my position.” You said, smiling a bit as you looked at the oldest Winchester. “Man, you are rubbing off on me.”   
  
That seemed to have created an awkward silence between the three of you. You watched as the boys fidget  around in their spots as they looked around the room. It was like they didn’t want to admit that you were going to die. You rolled your eyes.   
  
“Look, boys, what can I say? It’s a dangerous gig and I drew the short straw. That’s it, end of story.” You said, your tone of voice was flat. You just wanted them to leave you alone so you could sleep again.   
  
“Don’t talk like that, alright? We still have options.” Typical Sammy, the one who always got to look on the bright side of things.   
  
“What options? We have burial or cremation.” You snapped at him. But when you realized you were becoming irrational, you toned down your voice and reminded yourself that they were just as stressed as you were. “I know this isn’t easy on you guys. But, I’m gonna die. And neither of you can stop it.”   
  
But that wasn’t a good enough answer for the boys. You didn’t catch what they were mumbling towards one another. You heard the door opened again and a few moments later a nurse stepping inside a nurse stepping inside the room as she headed towards you. She was carrying a small metal tray with a clear bottle of something with a needle on the other side of it. That must have been painkillers that you had been craving since you woke up just a few minutes ago.   
  
The nurse excused herself as she smiled politely at the three of you, she stopped at the left side of you and placed the tray at the end of the bed. She looked down at you with a warm smile as she grabbed the stethoscope that had been lying around her neck.   
  
“Dr. Morgan is a bit busy right now, so I’ll be checking up on you to see how that heart is doing.” You nodded your head, watching as she leaned over and placed the ear pieces inside. She lifted up your gown just a bit so she could place the cold metal towards your chest. You winced at the freezing object touching your skin. “Now, I want you to take a deep breath for me…Good. Now, have you felt any discomfort? Any irregular beating that we should know about?”   
  
“It hurts when I move, but I think that’s just about it.” You said. You could see from the corner of your eye of how the boys were watching this nurse like a hawk, just waiting for the right moment to put their opinion in. Strangely, they remained silent the entire time she was here. Dean didn’t even try to make a pass at her like he would when he’d see a pretty face. But they just stood there like statues.   
  
“We’re going to give you some medicine to help you with the pain. And don’t worry, I made sure to give you the good stuff.” The nurse joked, playfully winking at you. You smiled and quietly chuckled. She took a step and grabbed the bottle and needle. She placed the needle into the tip of the bottle and began to extract a small amount. “You might be a bit sleepy and dazed, but that’s quite normal.”   
  
She stepped over towards your IV and grabbed the clear tube that ran all the way through your hand. You watched as the nurse injected the needle and pushed down, allowing the medicine to slowly run through your body. You leaned back in the bed and waited for the drugs to kick in, which didn’t take very much time. She grabbed the tray and placed everything back onto it.   
  
“Don’t hesitate to shout if one of you need anything. I’ll be down the hall for now.” The nurse said as she headed towards the door again. The boys just nodded, not bothering to say anything towards her. She smiled one more time before heading out the door, closing it softly behind her.   
  
“Stop being a bunch of gloomy people, you’re not making this high from the medication much fun.” You joked, cracking a smile at them. They weakly forced one, but it was the kind that looked crooked, it was like they were trying their hardest not to cry. You thought about something that could cheer them up, a few moments later, a funny memory popped in your head.   
  
“Hey, do you guys remember my eighteenth birthday? All of us got so drunk that night. None of us were legal yet, but Dean managed to make himself a horrible fake i.d. so he could pick up some beer from the convenient store down the road from my house. Don’t tell me you forgot about what happened that night.” You said. You watched as they thought about it, a small chuckle escape their mouths.   
  
“Oh, God.” Dean muttered underneath his breath as his smile grew a bit wider. “That’s one of the things that I’m still trying to block out. Didn’t one of you make me do something stupid?”   
  
“Sam and I grabbed all the grossest things we could find in the kitchen and mix them all together. You had to drink it all, and if you did, I was supposed to give you a hundred bucks.” You said. You began to chuckle at the memory. “Man, I really thought you were going to throw it all up when I saw the look on your face when you finished it.”   
“You still owe me that hundred bucks.” Dean remarked causing you to roll your eyes as you laughed again.   
  
“I’ll leave it in my will. Which I should probably get on.” You muttered making the room fall into a silence again. You breathed loudly through your nose and spoke up again. “Guys, no matter what you’re thinking about doing—it’s not gonna work.”   
  
“Well, aren’t you such an optimist.” Dean muttered. “But we will. I’m going to let you die because of this. This should have never happened if I—”   
  
“I’m not going to hear this speech about you should have done something different or it should be you in my position right now.” You lectured them. “Both of you are the only family that you have left. I want you two to realize that whenever you start fighting over something stupid. Now, my dying wish is for you two to get the hell out i here and live your lives. Okay?”   
  
Both of the brothers looked at you with an annoyed look. You wanted to pull your hair out in frustration, but what you could do? If they wanted to waste the month that you had left researching a method that wasn’t going to work, fine by you. All you cared about was resting and enjoying your last few weeks left on earth. Because in your life, miracles don’t happen.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You spent the next week in the hospital by yourself after you forced the boy to get some rest from your last visit. You watched the clock tick away as you tried your hardest to find something good on TV. Wake up, get your vitals checked every hour, watch some TV, go to sleep. Repeat.   
  
The entire cycle was making you slowly go insane. So, you made yourself crawl out of bed and check yourself out of the hospital You weren’t going to spend your final days sitting in some hospital that reeked of ammonia while your new guest hacked their lungs out. You needed to see the boys again, you missed them. And if you were going to die, you wanted to be near the only family that you had left.   
  
It took a while, but you managed to track down the motel you and the boys had been staying at. You were in pain whenever you tried to move, but you were still standing. You knocked on the door as you leaned yourself against the wall so you could catch your breath. A few seconds later, the door opened up to see Dean was standing in front of you.   
  
“What the hell are doing here?” He blurted out. A surprised look spread across his face.   
  
“I checked myself out.” You said, playfully winking at him while slowly walking inside.   
  
“Are you crazy?” He asked.   
  
You shrugged your shoulders as you leaned yourself against the dresser that was conveniently placed right next to the door. You let out a breath as you looked at him with a smile. “I’m not gonna die in a hospital where the doctors aren’t even cute.” You said something like he would if he was in your position. You chuckled as he shook his head.   
  
“You know this whole ‘I Laugh in the Face of Death’ thing—it’s crap.” Sam said. He pipped into the conversation as he closed the door behind you. You were surprised to see that he managed to break himself away from the research that he was so heavily into. “We can see right through it.”   
  
You looked at him for a few moments to make a sarcastic response, but you were too tired to figure something out. “Yeah. Whatever, dude.” You said. You observed their faces, a frown stretched across your lips when you noticed how exhausted they looked. “Have you two even slept? You’re beginning to look worse than me.”   
  
“We’ve been scouring the internet the past three days.” Sam explained.   
  
You leaned off the dresser and began to walk towards the chair that you had seen right across from the beds. A arm wrapped around your waist and helped you towards your destination. You sat down on the chair and let out a breath, exhausted from your adventurous trip.   
  
Both the brothers sat down at the ends of their beds that were littered with printed out sheets of paper based upon the human heart. Sam’s laptop was opened up towards a webpage about something that you couldn’t quite read from where you were sitting. But it obviously had to do with a way to get you healthier. They still trying their hardest, even though you had told them not to. You should have known better by now to think that these brothers weren’t going to stop until they had found something that would make you healthy again. But you noticed the looks on their faces that they might have found something.   
  
“I’ve been calling every contact is Dad’s journal.” Sam went on.   
  
“For what?” You asked. Even though you knew the answer that came rolling out of their mouths just seconds after your questions.   
  
“For a way to help you.” You rolled your eyes, but you let them continue. “One of Dad’s friends, Joshua, he called me back. told me about a guy in Nebraska—a specialist.”   
  
“Y’all aren’t gonna let me die in peace, are you?” You wondered in a flat tone.   
  
“We’re not gonna let you die, period. We’re going.“   
  
\+ + +   
  
Several hours of being stuck inside a car wasn’t your idea of a perfect day. You were in the passenger side with Sam by the wheel, strangely Dean was in the backseat for the entire ride without a complaint. You had noticed he’d been awfully quiet these past few days ever since you had the little accident. Whenever you tried to bring it up, he would immediately change the subject towards something else or ask if you needed anything. He was acting like something was bothering him, or guilt was gnawing at his conscious because of what happened.   
  
No matter how many times you told him that it wasn’t his fault, he ignored you and mumbled something about how he should have been there to help you during the hunt. You wanted to rip your hair out. He was beginning to sound like a broken record, and you were quickly becoming fed up with his and Sam’s behavior. They treated you with protectiveness and acted like you were going to shrivel up if they were too rough with you. It was getting towards the point where you were surprised that they even let you step out of the house. You just hoped this little trip to this doctor would go by quickly so you could die in peace.   
  
You looked out the window to see the car pull up towards an empty field with cars parked all around the place. People were walking up towards a large, white circus like tent. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion and you opened up your door to take a peek outside. When you saw the sign, you knew this wasn’t a doctor.   
  
The Church of Roy Le Grange: Faith Healer.   
  
You read what was written underneath the title with a loud scoff. “Witness the miracle.”   
  
You pushed yourself off the seat, feeling your shoes sink into the mud as you tried your hardest to stand up without taking too much energy. You smacked off Sam’s hand that went to grab your arm, you weren’t in the mood for his help. “I got it.” You grunted out. “Man, both of you are lying little Bastards. I thought you said we were going to see a doctor.”   
  
“I said ‘specialist.’” Sam corrected you. You rolled your eyes and slammed your door shut. You began to walk on your own, ignoring the brothers that hovered around you like flies. “This guy is supposed to be the real deal.”   
  
“I can’t believe you brought me to see some guy who heals people out of a tent.” You argued. You shoved your hands inside your pockets and continued to stroll at a slow pace that you could handle.    
  
“Revered Le Grange is a great man.” An older woman commented as she walked passed the three of you. “Yeah, that’s nice.” You sarcastically remarked. She shook her head and continued walking towards the tent.   
  
“I have a right to protest. This man is a fraud.” You turned your head when you passed a man that was arguing with a trooper. “He’s bilking all these people out of their hard-earned money.”   
  
“This a place of worship. Let’s go. Move it.” The officer escorted the protester off the premises, but before you could see anymore you felt Dean’s hand touch your upper back to keep you in focus of getting yourself inside the tent, but it didn’t stop himself from making a comment.   
  
“I take it he’s not part of the flock.” He said.   
  
“Well, when people see something they can’t explain, there’s controversy.” Sam explained.   
“Yeah, but come on, Sam—a faith healer?” You questioned. You looked up at him with a glare.   
  
“Maybe it’s time to have a little faith, you two.” He said, smiling a bit. You scoffed and continued walking. When has that ever helped any of you? It felt like everything was getting worse.   
  
“You know what I got faith in? Reality—knowing what’s really going on.” Dean continued to put his input in. “Maybe this was a bad idea, Sam.”   
  
“How can you two be a skeptic, with the things we see everyday?” Sam asked.   
  
“Exactly. We see them. We know they’re real.” Dean continued.   
  
“If you know there’s evil out there, how can you not believe good’s out there?” Sam asked.   
  
You had to side with him on that point. If there was evil out there, good would always follow behind. Life’s natural balance towards chaos and happiness. Someone has to die, but another person gets to be brought into this world. You had to look it at that way; if you were going to die, someone else was going to have the opportunity to live a happy life.   
  
“I’ve seen what evil does to good people.” Dean muttered, still not budging from his point of view.   
  
“Maybe God works in mysterious ways.” Another voice jumped into the conversation.   
  
Your turned your head to see a blonde woman that looked to be a few years older than you stop walking and stand right across from the three of you. She was holding an umbrella and smiling politely at Dean, obvious that she was more interested in trying to make conversation with him.   
  
“Maybe he does.” Dean said. His entire tune changed into a more positive tone. “I think you just turned me around on the subject.” You swear, he would never stop for the chance to flirt with a pretty girl.   
She chuckled at him. “Yeah, I’m sure.”   
  
“I’m Dean, this is Sam and (Y/N).” He reached over and put out a hand for her to shake.   
  
“Layla.” She introduced herself as she flashed another smile. “So, if you’re not a believer, then why are you here?”   
  
“Apparently my brother believes enough for the three of us.” Dean explained, you watched as Sam smiled slightly as he looked down at the ground for a few moments. But before the conversation could continue, an older woman walked up to Layla with a warm smile.   
  
“Come on, Layla. it’s about to start.” She gestured for Layla to follow her inside the tent. Layla closed her umbrella and disappeared from your vision, but made sure to take one more look at Dean before heading inside.   
  
“I’ll bet you she can work in mysterious ways.” Dean commented. He leaned forwards so he could take a better look at her backside. You rolled your eyes at how he could be.   
  
“And I’ll bet you’ll be flirting with all my old friends at my funeral, too.” You remarked as you stepped towards the tent.   
  
Sam chuckled to himself as he followed behind you, Dean was quick to respond at your comment towards him. He tried to defend himself, but it ended up making himself sound even more ridiculous. “Are any of them hot?” You laughed and rolled your eyes at him.

\+ + +

When you stepped inside the the tent and examined the scenery that you were greeted with, it wasn't something you had quite expected. The entire place was packed with people; healthy or sick, they sat down in the provided chairs while others lingered against the fabric walls. All eagerly waited for the gentleman standing above the makeshift stage to begin his sermon. You couldn’t help but believe this was more of a cult following than a church of worship. People will believe in anything to live just a bit longer than face their problems like they should.

  
“Yeah, peace, love and trust all over.” Dean muttered underneath his breath. You looked over your shoulder and straight above to see what he was talking about. A security camera was hooked above the entrance as a few cops lingered around the places.   
  
You didn’t pay much attention towards those details as you headed towards the last row where you had spotted three empty chairs. But just as you were about to sit down, you felt someone lightly grab a hold of your arm and yank you backwards. You turned your head to see that Sam was pulling you towards the front. You shook your head in protest.   
  
“What are you doing? Let’s sit here.” You said, gesturing towards the seat that you were just about to snag. He pointed towards the stage with his arm.   
  
“We’re sitting up front.” Sam said. You rolled your eyes at his eagerness to make sure that the reverend’s attention would somehow pass onto you. All you wanted to do was sit down where you couldn’t be seen, you were too tired from all this walking around to witness a miracle up close and personal.   
  
“What? Why?” You questioned, not very pleased at what he was suggesting. But Sam wasn’t going to stand here and argue with much longer.   
  
“Come on.” He pushed you lightly as he began to walk towards the front, Dean following behind without protest. You knew the oldest Winchester didn’t believe in this sort of stuff as yourself, but he was awfully pleasant allowing his brother to continue with this whole charade.   
  
“Oh, come on, Sam.” You muttered underneath your breath. You walked at your own pace. You were hating the fact that you were being forced here against your will, and you couldn’t even sit in the back like you had wanted to in order to avoid attention being thrown upon you. But you noticed a familiar face, Layla. She was sitting up front with her mother. She had turned around for a few seconds to smile at all three of you. You forced one before she faced forward again.   
  
“You alright?” Dean asked in a concerned voice, popping up towards your right side.   
  
“This is ridiculous. Dude, get off of me.” You hissed, slapping Sam’s off your shoulders. You looked at both of the brothers with an angered expression. “I still don’t know why you dragged me along. It’s not gonna work, whatever you’re trying to do.”   
  
But they ignored you. “Perfect.” Sam muttered to himself when he found three empty seats conveniently just one aisle behind the stage. You grunted something underneath your breath as you watched Sam slide in first and then Dean. “You take the aisle.”   
  
You took your seat, taking your time as you felt a dull pain erupted through your chest that was forming from all the moving around. A hand touched your arm as you adjusted yourself. You quickly slapped it away and looked at Dean with annoyance. “Stop touching me, will you?” He rolled his eyes and looked forward towards stage. You let out a sigh and leaned back in your seat, finally getting yourself comfortable.   
  
Looking around in the crowd; you saw that there was a few people with visible health conditions, some needed to breathe with an air tank while others coughed, their skin pale and they began to look like a bag of bones. If anyone needed help in this room, it sure wasn’t going to be you. When you heard the revered begin to speak, you averted your attention towards him.   
  
“Each morning, my wife, Susan, reads me the morning news. Never seems good, does it?” You noted that it must be the famous Roy everyone was here to see. He was an older man wearing a white button up shirt and black tie. What caught you off guard was the black sunglasses that he wore. A blind man that heals people, how cliche. “Seems like there’s always someone committing immoral, unspeakable act. But I say to you, God is watching you.”   
  
From what you had seen and dealt with these past few months, hell, your entire life, he wasn’t doing a very good job looking out for you. You heard the crowd respond with a few mumbles as they nodded their head in agreement. You rolled your eyes at their blind faith, but you continued listening out of respect.   
  
“And God rewards the good, and he punishes the corrupt.” The crowd murmured again, acting as if they were hanging on his every word. You looked around the room, but focused your attention back up on the man as he continued talking. “It is a Lord…who does the healing here, friends, the Lord who guides me in choosing who to heal by helping me see into people’s hearts.   
  
“Amen!” The crowd shouted, you rolled your eyes.   
  
“Or into their wallets.” You muttered underneath your breath towards Dean. You had seen enough late night infomercials to know when someone was being a fake. It was like one, but happening right before your very eyes.   
  
“You think so, young lady?”   
  
You froze when you heard him speak to you. The piano music playing in the background stop as the entire place slowly became quiet. All eyes were directed towards you, a blush began to creep up from your neck as you adjusted yourself in your seat. You looked up at Roy, giving him a weak smile.   
  
“Sorry.” You said, loud enough for your voice to echo through the silence.   
  
“No, no. Don’t be. Just watch what you say around a blind man. We got real sharp ears.” You couldn’t help yourself but smile a bit as the crowd laughed at his joke. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”   
  
You cleared your throat as you adjusted yourself in your seat again. “(Y/N).”   
  
“(Y/N).” He repeated your name, he nodded his head. “I want you to come up here with me.”   
  
Applause and cheering erupted from the crowed, you forced a smile as you watched his wife Sue Ann step towards the front of the stage. She gestured for you to come up with her arm when both of you locked eyes.. You shook your head, feeling the embarrassment from earlier begin to rise again. If this heart attack didn’t kill you, the feeling of stage fright just might.   
  
“No, it’s okay.” You said. You waved a hand a hand in the air to get the attention off of you. It was beginning to feel strange with all these eyes staring at you like they were expecting you to go along with this bull crap. You weren’t going to participate in something so stupid. You weren’t going to get healed. You were going to die in three weeks like the doctor told you. Like how it was meant to be.   
  
“What are you doing?” Sam questioned. He leaned over on his seat and stared at you like you just turned down a million dollars. You shrugged your shoulders and gave him a nonchalant look.   
  
“Y-You’ve come to be healed, haven’t you?” Roy asked. You bit the inside of your cheek.   
  
“Well, yeah, but, uh…” You lied, but the crowd that began to cheer again was making you feel guilty. You sighed and tried a different approach. “Maybe you should just pick someone else.”   
  
“Oh-ho, no. I—I didn’t pick you, (Y/N). The Lord did.” Roy explained, chuckling a bit as the audience continued to go wild.   
  
You looked at the brothers, Dean was nodding his head towards the stage as Sam encouraged you to get off your seat. You licked your lips and debated with yourself of what to do.   
  
“Get up there!” Sam yelled. That damn smile of his. You wanted to smack it right off of his face. You looked at the man and shook your head with annoyance, he had you hooked. Here you go.   
  
“This is ridiculous.” You mumbled underneath your breath. You got up from your seat and slowly made your way up towards the stage, trying your hardest not to feel a lot of pain as you moved.   
  
You took the steps one by one until you were at your destination. You stood right next to Roy as you turned around to face the crowd that kept cheering you on. A shaky breath escaped your lips as you looked at the people just staring at you. Your heart began to beat faster. This wasn’t right, you shouldn’t be up here. But when you caught the boys looking at you from their seats, something inside of you began to change.   
  
Sam was staring at you with that grin, his dimples that you always adored were showing. His entire face was full of hope, he waited patiently for the miracle that he had hoped for to begin. Then there was Dean standing on his left. He sat there with little expression. He wasn’t for this kind of thing, but there was no denying that this entire performance has caught his attention when you were called up. His green eyes were locked on Roy’s every move. He was invested in this as much as his brother. You sighed to yourself. If Dean was starting to believe, so could you.   
  
“Ready?” Roy asked, his tone just low enough for you to hear.   
  
“Look, no disrespect, but, uh, I’m not exactly  a true believer.” You admitted in a whisper.   
  
“You will be.” He raised his voice so that he was speaking loud enough for the entire audience to hear as he continued with this act. “Pray with me, friends.”   
  
Everyone in the crowd lifted up their hands as they closed their eyes, the entire room fell into a silence. You watched as Roy began to lift up his hands, he slowly was making out what was in front of him. His hand touched your shoulder, then he reached for your forehead as he left his palm to rest there. You furrowed your eyebrows slightly.   
  
“All right, now.” Roy said.   
  
Suddenly you felt something inside of you change. A sensation began to run through your head, all the way until it hit your toes, it was a feeling that you couldn’t describe. You began to blink rapidly as an invisible force began to push you down until you were on your knees.   
  
“All right, now.” Roy repeated himself.   
  
You dropped towards your backside and just seconds later, you fell out of consciousness for just a few moments. The entire audience went wild with joy as the boys jumped out of their seats as fast as they could, making sure to come running towards your aid. They had no idea what was going on, but the audience seemed to think it was the best thing they had ever had the chance to witness. Dean shook you as Sam shouted things at you that you didn’t hear. It took a few more seconds, but you came back.   
  
A gasp escaped your mouth as you jumped up slightly from the floor. You blinked a few times as you sucked in a deep breath. Your face scrunched up in confusion at what you saw standing behind Roy, it was a blurry figure that you made out to be an old man in a black suit that lingered around for a few seconds before vanishing from your vision. The unexpected visitor sure didn’t leave a good feeling inside of your stomach, that was for sure.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“So, you really feel okay?” Sam asked for what felt to be the tenth time. He turned around from the wall that he was staring at to fix his gaze on you.   
  
You were sitting on the end of the cushioned examining table of a doctor’s office to make sure your heart was really all right. Your fingers fidgeted around in your lap as you tried to figure out what was going on with you. When you woke up from that experience, you had no pain and your heart felt like it was beating normally. You nodded your head and looked at him with an annoyed glare, you were becoming tired of his constant questioning.   
  
“I feel fine, Sam.” You repeated the same answer.   
  
The door opened to reveal the doctor again, she stepped inside the room and headed up towards you. You looked up at her, wondering what answers she had for you. “Well, according to your tests, there’s nothing wrong with your heart. No sign there ever was.” She explained. You gave her a look of confusion as you quickly darted your eyes towards the boys, who looked pleased when they heard the results. “Not that a person your age should be having heart trouble, but, uh….still it’s strange–it does happen.”   
  
“What do you mean, ‘strange’?” You asked.   
  
“Just yesterday–a guy like you,” She said, crossing her arms over chest. “Twenty-seven, athletic–out of nowhere, heart attack.”   
  
You felt your blood run cold from the news, but you just smiled. “Thanks, doc.”   
  
“No problem.” She said, nodding her head. She turned around and headed towards the door, leaving the three of you alone.   
  
When you let the news process in your mind, something didn’t settle right with you. It was strange to hear what happened to that man. What if–No, you brushed off the feeling and hopped off the table. “That’s odd.”  You said, grabbing your jacket from the other side of the table.   
  
“Maybe it’s a coincidence.” Sam said. You tilted your head to the side, arching your eyebrow up.   
  
“People’s hearts give out all the time.” Dean joined in.   
  
“No, they don’t.” You mumbled.   
  
“Do we really have to look at this one in the mouth? Why can’t we just be thankful that the guy saved your life?” Dean asked. His tone of voice was rather tougher than you had expected out of him. It was like he was giving you a command rather than a question.   
  
“Because I can’t shake this feeling, that’s why.” You said. You stood up straighter and looked at both of the boys in the eye. But you didn’t feel like explaining yourself to people that wanted to believe in this blind faith. You turned around and grabbed your coat, shoving your arms into the hole and tugging the thing onto your body.   
  
“What feeling?” Sam asked, his tone low.   
  
When I was healed, I just–I felt…wrong.” You admitted, shrugging your shoulders. “I felt cold and for a second, I saw someone, this old man. I’m telling you guys, it was a spirit or something.”   
  
“If there was something there, I think we would have seen it.” Sam said, you turned around and gave him an annoyed looked. He was treating you as if you had the lowest IQ in the room. “I’ve been seeing an awful lot of things lately.”   
  
“Oh, excuse me, psychic wonder. You’re gonna need a little faith on this one.” You mocked him. He rolled his eyes, turning his head to look at something else. “You guys, I know I haven’t been hunting long enough, but I trust this feeling.”   
  
Both of the boys stayed quiet for a few moments. You watched as Sam turned his gaze back towards you, a smile spread across his lips as he spoke gain.  But that smile didn’t last long. “Yeah, all right.” He sighed to himself, before continuing to talk. “So, what do you wanna do?”   
  
“Wow I get to call the shots for once? Maybe I should almost die more often.” You joked, but the boys gave you disapproving glares. You cleared your throat. “Why don’t you guys check out the heart attack victim? I’m gonna visit the Reverend.”   
  
“Hey, why don’t I tag along with you.” Dean suggested. You gave him a curious look, he shrugged his shoulders as he tried to validate his change of actions. “What? I have a few questions of my own that I want answered from him.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
After parting ways with Sam, you and Dean headed towards the Reverend’s house in silence. You had been thankful for the time to concentrate on what had happened to you in just a short amount of time. Just yesterday you were fine with the idea of dying, but today…today you were healthy, looking at no possible risks of heart failure in your near future. All though you should have been happy at the news, you couldn’t help but feel guilty, like you were cheating death. You knew this entire plan was a bad idea.   
  
You should be cooped up in a hospital room, being fed medicine like it was water and cracking jokes with the boy about the fun times that you had. You should be on your death bed right now making sure to feel guilty of all the things that you never had the chance to do because of doing this lifestyle. You should have a boyfriend, thinking about having a few kids or at least gotten a freaking dog while you lived in that house, wasting away, pretending to be happy but safe.   
  
Instead you were sitting here with a regular beating heart, overlooking the afternoon skies as you listened to the music play through the speaks with one of your best friends. You had always taken these kind of days for granted. Just the moment for relaxation, a little breathing room before the storm of bad news or time to hunt something would come. You leaned back in your seat and turned your gaze to look at Dean for a few moments, observing his side profile.   
  
“I know you’re trying to be all in ‘the moment’ and crap. But can you stop staring at me? It’s weirding me out.” Dean broke the silence that had been lingering since both of you got into the car. You couldn’t help yourself but laugh a bit as you fixed your eyesight back at the road. “How are you feeling, by the way?”   
  
“I’m fine.” You said. His face slowly stretch into disbelief. Your lips stretched into a smile as you repeated the line again. “I’m fine, really.” If you were, then why were you feeling so guilty?   
  
It was another few minutes until you saw the Le Grange household pulled up into view. Dean parked the car and soon joined you so both of you could head up towards the front door. You knocked twice and waited a few moments until the door opened. There stood a surprised Sue Ann, a smile spread across her face when she saw the two of you standing on her porch.   
  
“Why hello, (Y/N).” She greeted, you smiled and waved at her. “What can I do for you?”   
  
“I just wanted to stop by to say a quick thank you for what your husband did. Is he around, by chance?” You asked, politely smiling at her.   
  
Sue Ann nodded her head as she stepped out of the way, making a gesture for the two of you to follow inside. She lead you towards the study area where you found Roy sitting on a loveseat, his back turned towards you. His wife called out that they had guests.   
  
You said hello as you took a seat, Dean took one next to you. All of you made small talk as you watched Sue Ann disappear for a second, but came back with a tray full of cups and a pitcher full of ice tea. Roy asked how you had been feeling, you looked back at the man and smiled, as if he could see you.   
  
“I feel great.” You admitted. “Just trying to, you know, make sense of what happened.”   
  
Roy nodded his head. “A miracle is what happened.” Sue Ann said, taking a seat on the couch across from yours. You forced a smile. “Miracles come so often around Roy.”   
  
“When did they start? The miracles?” Dean curiously asked.   
  
“Woke up one morning stone blind. Doctors figured out I had cancer, told me I had maybe a month. So, uh…we prayed for a miracle.” Roy explained. You saw from the corner of your eye as his wife smiled sadly, becoming emotional over their traumatic past. “I was weak, but I told Sue Ann, ‘You just keep right on praying.’ I went into a coma. Doctors said I wouldn’t wake up, but I did, and the cancer was gone. If it wasn’t for these eyes,” Roy took off his glasses and smiled. “No one would have believed I’d ever had it.”   
  
“And suddenly you could heal people?” He asked another question.   
  
“I discovered it afterwards, yes. God’s blessed me in many ways.” Roy said, putting his glasses back on his face.   
  
“His flock just swelled overnight. This is just the beginning.” Sun Ann explained, you nodded your head. She looked at her husband with a look that made you know she really loved her husband and his special talent. Ignorance is bliss.   
  
You stood quiet for a few moments, your fingers twitching inside your lap. You sucked in a deep breath and spoke up. “Can I ask you one last question?”   
  
“Of course you can.” Roy said.   
  
You bit your bottom lip and asked the question that had been burning in the back of your mind. “Why? Why me?” You asked in a low voice. “Out of all the sick people, why save me?”   
  
“Well, like I said before, the Lord guides me. I looked into your heart and you just…stood out from all the rest.”   
  
Your eyebrows furrowed at his answer. “What did you see in my heart?” You asked.   
  
“A young woman with an important purpose–a point to make to someone and a job to do. It’’s not finished yet.”   
  
You were taken back by his answer. It wasn’t something that you had expected to hear. You were waiting for some bogus explanation about how he doesn’t choose people, and leave it at that. But the last part made you feel different about this situation. Maybe there was someone looking out for you, after all.   
  
You and Dean stayed for a little while longer, making small talk until Sue Ann announced that her husband needed to rest. You said your goodbyes and stepped outside. Dean closed the front door as you began to head down the porch steps. You looked up from the ground for just a second to see a familiar face. You stopped in your tracks and smiled at the woman.   
  
“Dean, (Y/N). Hey.” She greeted you in a warm tone.   
  
“Hey.” You said. She stopped at the same step as you, Dean followed behind and lingered over you as he said a quick hello.   
  
“How are you feeling?” Layla asked.   
  
“I feel good–cured, I guess.” You admitted. “What are you doing here?”   
  
“You know, my mom.” She said, turning her head to see that the woman was walking up the porch steps. You smiled up at her mother when you made eye contact with her. “She wanted to talk to the reverend.”   
  
“Layla.” You turned your head to see Sue Ann, she was standing at the top of the steps with her hands laced together. She looked at the woman with a sullen face.   
  
“Yes. I’m here again.” Layla said, stepping up so she was now at the top of the porch.   
  
You and Dean took a few steps, but ended up turning around to see what she was here for, but it sounded like they stay wasn’t going to be for very long. “Oh, I’m sorry, but Roy is resting. He won’t be seeing anyone else right now.” Sue Ann explained.   
  
“Sue Ann, please.” Layla’s mother begged. “This is our sixth time. He’s got to see us.”   
  
“Roy is well aware of Layla’s situation, and he wants to help just as soon as the Lord allows.” Sue Ann said. You felt the guilt that you thought had gone always slowly creep back inside your gut. “Have faith, Mrs. Rourke.” She placed a hand on Layla’s arm, giving her a small squeeze before heading back inside.   
  
You looked at the front door and sighed to yourself. Why couldn’t there just be more miracles happening faster and for people that deserved them? You ripped your gaze from the door when you felt a pair of eyes lingering on you. Mrs. Rourke was standing right across from you, a death glare was sketched across her face when she stared at you. If looks could kill, she would make sure you were dead like she had wanted.   
  
“Why are you still even here? You got what you wanted.” She snapped at you. You opened your mouth to say something but you were at lost for towards. Nothing seemed appropriate.   
  
“Mom. Stop.” Layla said, but her mother wasn’t done yet.   
  
“No, Layla, this is too much.” Mrs. Rourke turned her head so she was now looking at her daughter. “We’ve been to every single service. If Roy would stop choosing strangers over you. Strangers who don’t even believe…” Her icy glare returned as she fixed her eyes back on you. “I just can’t pray any harder.”   
  
“Layla, what’s wrong?” You asked. You turned your head so you were now focusing your attention on her, trying to block out her mother’s constant glares.   
  
She looked up from the ground and let out a deep breath, she smiled and tried to pretend as if it was nothing serious. “I have this thing.” She explained.   
  
“It’s a brain tumor.” You gaze quickly jumped back towards Mrs. Rourke, she stepped back up towards her daughter’s and told more of her daughter’s medical struggle. “It’s inoperable. In six months, the doctor say…” Her voice cracked, Layla placed a hand on her mother’s shoulder. She looked at her daughter and tried to smile, but her face said it all.   
  
You couldn’t help yourself but look at both of them with even more guilt. If anyone right now that needed a miracle, it would be Layla. Her and her mother had tried to hard, but they weren’t even close at seeing something happen. You sucked in a deep breath.   
  
“I’m so sorry.” You whispered.   
  
Layla looked up at you and smiled. “It’s okay.” She tried to play off the sympathy you were giving her. But Mrs. Rourke continued to belittle you. Why you let her continue, you didn’t know why.   
  
“No. It isn’t.” She told her daughter. You watched as she turned around and looked at you for a few moments. Your lips stretched into a frown as you listened towards her last question. “Why do you deserve to live instead of my daughter?”   
  
You watched as she stormed off and left her daughter there. Layla sucked in a shaky breath and soon followed after her mother. You watched as they soon disappeared from your sight. A hand softly placed placed itself on your shoulder, Dean gave it a tight squeeze. You knew he was trying to be supportive, but it wasn’t helping.   
  
Why do you deserve to live instead of my daughter?   
  
That was a question you didn’t know the answer to. And you hoped you would never have to find out. You didn’t want to be eaten alive from the guilt that sure would follow.

\+ + +

You were the first one to step inside the motel room, Dean followed behind you as both of you kept the silence going since you stepped into the car back at the Le Grange household. Dean tried to make small talk to get your mind off what Layla’s mother hissed at you, but you weren’t in the mood to try and make conversation. So both of you stopped talking after five minutes and let the quietness subdue your racing mind.

  
The motel room door closed behind you as you slipped off your coat and headed towards the kitchen area where you had saw Sam. He was sitting at the table with his laptop open, papers were scattered around the place, he only took a second to glance up from the screen before focusing his attention back on his. You could sees guilty expression written across his face when you took a seat right next to him.   
  
“What’d you find out?” Dean asked. He abandoned the keys and his own jacket on the bed before walking into the dining area where you and Sam sat.   
  
Sam quiet for a few moments before looking at you. “I’m sorry.” He mumbled.   
  
Your face up with confusion at what he was trying to apologize for. “Sorry about what?” You asked.   
  
“Marshall Hall died at 4:17.“ Sam explained.   
  
“The exact same time that I was healed.” You said. You felt a sigh escape your lips when you processed the news.   
  
“Yeah. So I put together a list of everyone that was healed. Six people over the past year. And I crossed-checked them with the local obits. ” Sam grabbed a pile of papers and handed it to you so you could flip through them. “Every time someone was healed, someone else died, and each time, the victim died of the same symptom Le Grange was healing at the time.”   
  
“Someone gets healed of cancer, someone else dies of cancer?” Dean asked. He took a seat down at the end of the table, sitting vertical of Sam.   
  
“Somehow Le Grange is trading a life for another.” Sam explained.   
  
“Wait, wait, wait. So…” You leaned back in your seat, you shook your head in confusion. “Marshall Hall died to save me?”   
  
“(Y/N),” Sam drawn out your name as he sighed. “The guy probably would have died anyway and someone would’ve been healed.”   
  
You rolled your eyes and threw the papers towards the table, anger began to rise inside of you. They weren’t getting it. “Both of you should have never brought me here.” You muttered, getting up from your chair and walking towards the other side of the room. You should have died you were supposed to. But instead, some stranger had to face the fatal consequences because the boys were chicken to face the truth.   
  
“(Y/N), we were just trying to save your life.” Sam explained, you shook your head and looked at the boy straight in the eye.   
  
“Sam, someone is dead because of me.” You snapped at him. You couldn’t help yourself but let the anger out. You had been keeping up bottled inside ever since you got here, but you couldn’t take it anymore.   
  
“I didn’t know.” He confessed in a whispered tone. You looked at his face, you took a deep breath and tried to calm yourself down. None of this was making sense. And getting angry over it wasn’t going to help save more people from getting killed. “The thing I don’t understand is, how is Roy doing all of this? How is he treating a life for a life?”   
  
“He’s not doing it.” Dean said. “Something else is doing it for him.”:   
  
“What do you mean?” You asked.   
  
“The old man you saw onstage. I didn’t want to believe it, but deep down I knew it.” Dean said.   
  
“Care to elaborate a bit more?” You wondered, hating to be left out in the dark.   
  
“There’s only one thing that give and take life like that. We’re dealing with a reaper.” He explained.   
  
With that little knowledge you had of what you and the boys were up against, you excused yourself to your own motel room so you could do a bit of research. You got up from the chair and headed over towards the bed. You grabbed your jacket and dashed for the bedroom door before you had a chance to be lured back into a conversation. You stepped outside in the cold, spring air and sighed to yourself. You pressed a hand towards your forehead as you felt your healthy heart begin to beat faster. Everything was happening so fast. What you heard about this Marshal guy, what Mrs. Rourke barked at you in the heat of the moment.   
  
Why. Why. Why. Why you?   
  
Out of all the sick people in that room, why were you chosen to be healed and allowed another day? You didn’t care about the bogus reason that Roy gave you, it didn’t help the guilt that you were drowning in. And it’s not like you could talk about it to the boys, they wanted you alive and breathing. You knew they wanted what’s best for you, but sometimes their protectiveness was too much for you to handle.   
  
You shoved the key into the lock and twisted it, allowing the door to open slightly as you pushed on it. Flicking a light on, you see that the room was just like all the others you had previously been at before in different states, different jobs. A twin bed, a desk and occasionally a small kitchen area you never bothered to use. You walked inside and dropped the keys and your coat on the desk. You headed over towards the bed to see that your bag was lying on top of it. You unzipped the top and began to search through it to find your laptop that was buried at the bottom. But as a yawn escaped your lips, suddenly the idea of spending the rest of the day doing research wasn’t so pleasant.   
  
You grabbed the bag by the handles and dropped it towards the floor. You kicked off your shoes and jumped on the bed. If you were going to do research, you needed to rest. All it took was an adjustment and closing your eyes before you found yourself drifting off getting a rest that you desperately needed for your own mental health.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The next morning, you got up early and swung by the library to do a bit more research on the creature that you and the boys were dealing with. Dean had offered you the Impala without his supervision so he could help Sam get some of the work done so both of you weren’t swamped in it.. You were a bit taken back to his gracious gesture, but you weren’t going to take down one of the most rarest moments to drive the Baby again after what happened last time. All though, something didn’t feel right about it, but you didn’t think much of it.   
  
You came back to the boys room a few hours later with a bit more knowledge about reapers and a folder full of pictures. You found them just sitting at opposite ends of the table; Sam was staring at his computer screen, typing away as Dean finished up his cup of coffee. You dropped the keys towards the table and dropped the folder with a thud, allowing the pictures to pour out. You slid off your jacket and took a seat in the middle of the boys.   
  
“All right. I got as much information as I could on this thing.” You said, pulling out a few photographs of drawings and handing them towards Dean’s awaiting hand. “But do you really think it’s the grim reaper? Like Angel of Death, collect your soul, the whole deal?”   
  
“No, no, not the reaper–a reaper.” Dean corrected you, shaking his head as he looked up from the drawings. “There’s a reaper lore in every culture on earth. They go by different names. It’s possible there’s more than one.”   
  
“(Y/N) said she saw a dude in a suit.” Sam said.   
  
“You think he should’ve been working the black-robe thing?” You asked in a sarcastic tone. “You said it yourself that the clock stopped, right?” You turned the photograph that you were looking at towards them so they could examine it. “Reapers stop time. You can only see them when they’re coming after you, which is why I could see and you both couldn’t.”   
  
“Maybe.” Sam muttered. His tone of voice was making you believe he wasn’t on board with this whole idea.   
  
“There’s nothing else it could be.” You said, letting the picture fall out of your grip and land on the table. “The question is, how is Roy controlling the damn thing?”   
  
“The cross.” You heard Sam whisper something.   
  
“What?” Dean asked, his gaze lifted from the table so he could listen to his brother.   
  
“There was this cross. I noticed it in the church tent. I knew I had seen it before.” Sam went on. You watched as he reached over to grab something that looked to be a deck of tarot cards and began to shuffle through him. Your face scrunched up when he chuckled to himself. He pulled out a card, he reached over the table so you and Dean could see it. “Here.”   
  
“A tarot?” Dean questioned. He grabbed the card and examined it. The card was of a skeleton wearing something that resembled rich robes that old priests would wear. Your face scrunched up in confusion.   
  
“It makes sense.” Sam explained. “Tarot dates back to the early Christian era, when some priests were using magic and a few veered into the dark stuff—necromancy and how to push death away, how to cause it.”   
  
“So Roy is using black magic to bind the reaper?” You asked.   
  
“If he is, he’s riding the whirlwind.” Sam said, grabbing the card from Dean’s hand so he could put it back into the deck. “It’s like putting a dog leash on a Great White.”   
  
You sighed to yourself at that example, it put into perspective of how dangerous this reaper was. Dean got up from his seat and headed towards the sink, he placed his cup inside and leaned his backside against the counter when he was done.   
  
“Okay, then we stop Roy.” Dean suggested.   
  
“How?” You asked, tilting your head to the side.   
  
“You know how.” He said. It took you a few seconds, but you caught on towards what he was suggesting. You immediately shook your head.   
  
“What the hell are you talking about? We can’t kill Roy.” Sam said.   
  
“The guy is playing God—deciding who live and dies. That’s a monster in my book.” Dean explained. You rolled your eyes.   
  
“Then what am I? Frankenstein’s monster? If I recall, you weren’t fighting this when I was up to participate.” You said, your eyebrows furrowing in anger. “No, we’re not gonna kill another human being, Dean. If we do that, we’re no better than he is.”   
  
“Okay, so if we can’t kill Roy, we can’t kill Death. Any bright ideas Ms. Einstein and College Boy?” Dean asked in a sarcastic tone. You scoffed to yourself and looked at something from the other side of the room.   
  
“Okay, uh…If Roy is using some kind of black spell on the reaper, we got to figure out what it is and and how to break it.” Sam suggested. You looked up at the boys again, you shrugged your shoulders and sighed. That was the best idea all of you could come up with. You just hoped it would work before someone else got killed.   
  
\+ + +   
  
All three of you drove back towards the next ceremony that was going to be taken place in just fifteen minutes. You saw the people head inside the tent from the backseat window, everything was becoming bigger as Dean drove so he could make it in time. You nearly jumped out of car when all of you parked, there was little time to be wasted.   
  
“If Roy is using a spell, there might be a spell book.” You said, watching as the boys got out of the car and headed up towards you before all of you began to walk again. “One of you see if you can find it. And hurry up too. The service starts in fifteen minutes. I’ll try to stop Roy.”   
  
“Roy Le Grange is a fraud. He’s no healer.” You turned your head to see the protester from the time that you were here was still doing his work. You nodded your head as you grabbed a paper in support.   
  
“Amen, brother.” Dean said, taking a flyer.   
  
You turned your head to see that Sam was walking towards the home as Dean trailed behind a bit until both of you walked in sync towards the tent. You glanced around the place, trying to figure out a plan to get everyone out of here without getting yourself into too much trouble. You noticed that this place was jammed pack with people. There was more than you were here. It felt wrong to stop someone from getting healthy again, but you couldn’t risk the chance of a stranger catching a disease that was never meant for them.   
  
Dean’s cell phone began to ring, he shoved his hand inside his pocket and pulled it out. He flipped it open and pressed it to his ear. “What do you got?” He asked, obvious to know that it was his brother on the other line.   
  
“Roy’s choosing his victims he sees as immoral, and I think I know who’s next on his list.” You heard Sam speak on the other end. “Remember that protester?”   
  
“The guy in the parking lot?” Dean asked in a hushed tone.   
  
“I’ll find him, but you guys can’t let Roy heal anyone, all right?” You looked around the room again and sighed to yourself when you and Dean locked eyes. You nodded your head, but little did you both know that it wasn’t going to be as easy as you thought it would be.   
  
Dean closed the phone and shoved it back inside his pocket. You opened your mouth to suggest a plan, but when Roy announced a familiar name, your words didn’t even make it to your tongue when you realized who it was.   
  
“Layla. Layla Rourke. Come up here, child.”   
  
You cursed underneath your breath as you heard the audience roar into a cheer. You watched as Layla got up from her seat, along with her mother. Happiness and relief was glowing off their faces. It made your stomach twist into knots knowing that you had to burst their bubble.You wanted to get healthy, you really did. But not like this.   
  
As she passed you and Dean, you reached out and grabbed her arm. She stopped in her tracks as she flashed you a confused look at what you were doing. A sigh escaped your lips at what you were about to say.   
  
“Layla, listen to me. You can’t go up there.” You whispered just low enough for you and her to hear. Her face scrunched up with frustration now.   
  
“Why not? We’ve waited for months.” She told you. You knew. You remember from yesterday, her mother pleaded on the front steps of the house telling them of how they had been here six times, and nothing. But it looked like seventh’s time the charm.   
  
You clenched your jaw, she wasn’t making this easy for you. “You can’t let Roy heal you.” You explained as best as you could without spilling any important information.   
  
“I don’t understand. Roy healed you, didn’t he? Why wouldn’t I at least let him try?” She questioned, shaking her head in confusion.   
  
“Because if you do, something bad is going to happen.” You threatened her. But it wasn’t helping one bit. “I can’t explain, I just need you to believe us.”   
  
“Layla.” You turned your head to see Sue Ann was just a few feet away from the both of you. Her eyes were fixated on Layla as her hand was drawn out so the woman could take it.   
  
“Please.” You whispered. Layla looked over her shoulder to see her mother was standing across from the three of you, her palms were pressed together as she nodded her head for her daughter to go through with this process. She looked back at you, her face written with sadness when she made her decision.   
  
“I’m sorry.”   
  
She ripped herself from your grip and headed over towards Sue Ann. You gritted your teeth in anger as Dean hissed out her name a few times, but she was too far gone for her to hear him. You watched as she stepped up on the stage with Sue Ann. You turned your head to see her mother, tears began to prick her eyes as she slightly tilted her head towards the side. She pressed her hands towards her face and broke out smiling. You clenched your jaw again. None of this was helping you keep the urge to continue fighting this until it stopped.   
  
“I knew the Lord would finally pick you. I knew it was just a matter of time.” You heard go on about something, but you weren’t paying much attention. You noticed that Sue Ann had disappeared towards the other side of the room, your eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. “Pray with me, friends.”   
  
You looked back at the stage and realized what was happening. You turned your head to see that Dean was walking all the way across the room„ he looked a bit hesitant about what he had to do. Roy’s hand inched towards Layla’s head at an agonizing slow rate, you bit the inside of your cheek, you opened your mouth to shout something, but someone beat you to it.   
  
“Fire! The tent’s on fire! Everybody out of here! The tent’s on fire!”   
  
Dean’s shouts echoed through the air, it only took a few moments before people began to respond. They all looked at one another with confusion, so he started yelling again. You watched as everyone finally began to get up from their seats as they began to head towards the exits.   
  
“No! No, please!” Mrs. Rourke screamed. She pushed her way through the crowd until she was near the stage. “Reverend, please!”   
  
Her pleas rang inside your ears as you headed over towards Dean. His gaze was fixed on the stage, watching as the scene unfolded. Guilt was written across his face that he couldn’t hide. You grabbed his arm and shook your head, letting him know that it wasn’t worth the pain. He sighed to himself and looked the other way.   
  
“‘Friends, uh, if you’d all just leave the tent in an orderly fashion, w-we’ll figure out what’s going on back there.” Roy explained. He made his way around as two people were by his side, making sure he stepped down without hurting himself.   
  
You turned your head and saw that Dean was punching in Sam’s number and pressing the phone towards his ear. Two rings later, the boy answered. “I did it. I stopped Roy.”   
  
Sam said someone’s name and there was a two second pause before he spoke up again. “I think it’s okay.” Before you had a chance to let out a breath of relief, you heard the sound of someone screaming no in a panicked tone. “Dean, it didn’t work! The reaper’s still coming!”   
  
“What the hell are you talking about?” Dean nearly hissed.   
  
“I’m telling you, it must not have worked! Roy must not be controlling this thing!” Sam shouted from the other end. His voice was dripping with panic. You tried to make another assumption of who could be doing this. Of course, nothing was popping inside your mind from the panic that was rising through your body.   
  
“Well, then who the hell is?” Dean snapped out in frustration.   
  
You looked over your shoulder to hear the sounds of something like latin being softly chanted in the background. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but you heard that voice before. You turned around and saw Sue Ann. You didn’t wait for Dean, you went straight for the woman. Dean shut his phone and quickly followed behind in your trail.   
  
When you were close enough, you reached out a hand and grabbed a hold of Sue Ann’s shoulder. You roughly turned her around, your gaze dropped towards the necklace that she was clutching. A gasp escaped her lips when she saw the two of you. Before you had a chance to snag the chain, she shoved it inside the collar on her dress as she began to shouts of pleas for someone to help her. It only took a few seconds before your plans were foiled.   
  
You felt someone grab a hold of your arm in an iron lock, you winced when you were dragged behind by a cop. You struggled to get out of his grip, but he was stronger. You and Dean were shoved out of the tent by the officers, Sue Ann following behind to play the victim. You gave the woman a death glare, hoping she would be the one that would drop dead.   
  
“I just don’t understand.” She said, her eyes trailing towards you. “After everything we’ve done for you, after Roy healed you.” You rolled your eyes, shaking your head. “We’re just very , very disappointed, (Y/N).” If your arms weren’t pinned behind your back, you would have hit her like you were caught almost doing. “You can let them go. I’m not gonna press charges. The Lord will deal with them…as he sees fit.”   
  
The officer shoved you away from his grip, you stumbled backwards, but you caught yourself before you had the chance to fall in the mud like he must have been secretly hoping. The two idiots focused their attention on Dean.   
  
“If we catch you around here again, son, we’ll put the fear of God in you, understand?” The other office threatened.   
  
“Ooh, he’s so scared.” You mocked them in a sarcastic tone.   
  
Dean ignored your comment, he just nodded his head. “Yes sir, fear of God. Got it.” He flashed them a smirk, but it wasn’t the kind that they liked. They shoved him rather roughly, causing him to stumble. But he caught himself, just in time before he bumped into Layla.   
  
“Layla.” You said in a soft tone. Her gaze towards you was anything more than nice, they were like daggers, she shook her head at you.   
  
“Why would you two do that?” She asked, shaking her head. “And it could’ve been my only chance.”   
  
“He’s not a healer.” Dean tried to explain.   
  
“He healed her.” Layla pointed a finger at you.   
  
Dean looked at you for a few seconds before returning his gaze towards her. He opened his mouth to try and explain, but he closed it again to answer it properly. “I know it doesn’t seem fair. And I wish I could explain. But Roy is not the answer. I’m sorry.”   
  
Layla was quiet for a few moments. She looked at you for a few moments, anger rising in her expression as she turned her attention back towards Dean. “Goodbye, Dean.” She simply said. You watched as she walked away from the both of you, but she didn’t make it very far before she spoke up just one more time, and that was towards you. “Good bye, (Y/N). I wish you luck. I really do.”   
  
“Same to you too.” You said. She sighed to herself before walking until she was far enough from you to hear what you mumbled underneath your breath. “You deserve it a lot more than me.”   
  
You shoved your hands inside your pockets and turned around to head back towards the Impala where Sam was waiting. You forced a small smile as you stopped at the back seat door. You saw Dean heading towards you and Sam, but he lingered around the group before coming back towards the car. The look on his face made you realized he had something to share when the three of you got back to the motel.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“So, Roy really believes.” Sam said.   
  
You sat at the end of Dean’s bed as you watched him head over towards the window, taking a peek outside towards the night. He nodded his head. “I don’t think he has any idea what his wife is doing.” He explained before walking back over and sitting next to you.   
  
“Oh? I found this hidden in their library.” Sam pulled out a small black book. It’s ancient, written by a priest who went dark side. There’s a binding spell in here for trapping a reaper.”   
  
“Must be a hell of spell.” Dean said, grabbing the book from Sam’s hand. He opened it up and began to flip through the pages, examining the content inside.   
  
“Yeah. You got to build a black altar with seriously dark stuff. Bones, human blood.” Sam explained. “To cross a line like that, that preacher’s wife—black magic, murder…evil.”   
  
“Desperate.” You corrected him. “Her husband was dying. She would have done anything to save him. She was using the spell to keep the reaper away from Roy.”   
  
“Cheating death.” Sam muttered, he chuckled to himself. “Literally.”   
  
“But Roy is alive, so why is she still using the spell?” Dean questioned.   
  
“Right.” You said. “To force the reaper to kill people she thinks is immoral.”   
  
Dean softly scoffed to himself. “God save us from half the people who think they’re doing God’s work.” He muttered underneath his breath.   
  
“We got to break that bonding spell.” Sam reminded the both of you.   
  
You leaned over and looked at the book, your finger reached out and pointed at a familiar looking cross that you had seen earlier. “You know, Sue Ann had a coptic cross like this. When she dropped it, the reaper backed off.”   
  
“So you think we got to find the cross or destroy the altar?” Sam asked.   
  
“Maybe both.” You said. He gave you a look, you shrugged your shoulders.   
  
“Whatever we do, we’d better do it soon. Roy’s healing Layla tonight.” Dean informed you and Sam.   
  
With that knowledge, you let it sink in. You watched as he closed the small back book and shoved it inside his packet pocket. You glanced over and Sam one more time before jumping off the bed and headed towards the door. You knew out of everyone that deserved to be healthy again, Layla was the first one that came to mind. But you couldn’t let anyone else die, as much as it hurt you to say that.

\+ + +

Driving up to the Le Grange property, you had hoped this would be the last time you would visit this place. You watched as the property came into your view as you itched to get out of the car. You had debated long and hard about being apart of this plan to stop the couple from healing people with Layla being their next choice. You knew from her story that she deserved to be healed. But allowing someone else to die because of it wasn’t right. Playing God had dangerous consequences. And Sue Ann was going to have them when you got your hands on her and that necklace. But you wished the guilt that had been gnawing at your conscious would just go away.

When the car stopped, you looked out the window and examined the outside. Your eyes landed on a familiar vehicle that you had seen a few times before. “That’s Layla’s car. She’s already here.” You heard Sam say.   
  
“Yeah.” Was all you could say before focusing your attention at the scuff on your shoes.   
  
The car fell into a small silence for just a few moments, you felt two pairs of eyes being drawn towards your face. You tried to block it all out, but they grabbed your attention towards the topic you tried to ignore since you got here. “(Y/N)–” Sam began, you cut him off before he could make a speech.   
  
“If Roy would’ve picked Layla instead of me, she’d be healed right now.” You said. You lifted your head up slightly, but you still didn’t make eye contact with them.   
  
“(Y/N), don’t.” The oldest Winchester mumbled.   
  
“And if she’s not healed tonight, she’s gonna die in a couple months.” You finished. You looked at both of them, your expression was hardened with a mix of sadness and anger.   
  
“What’s happening to her is horrible. But what are you gonna do–Let someone else die to save her?” Dean questioned, you just stared at him for for a few moments.   
  
“You’re such a hyportic. Both of you are.” You snapped. You shook your head as you grabbed the door handle. “You can’t let someone play God because I was hurt and immediately tell me that you won’t let this woman be saved. Just remember that both of you let someone die to save me.”   
  
Before you could let them defend themselves, you opened up the back seat door and jumped out. You made sure to slam it extra loudly to show them how pissed off you were. It was a few moments before they joined you, a silence fell between the three of you went you decided to take lead. You began to walk towards the tent, hearing the sounds of two footsteps softly hit the dirt. When you approached the entrance of the tent, you heard Roy’s voice echoing through the air. You lifted the tarp a bit to take a peek inside; there was a crowd of people surrounding the stage. Layla was standing with the back towards the three of you. Suddenly you were thankful that Roy was blind when you saw his head turn in your direction.   
  
“Where’s Sue Ann?” You heard Dean whisper from behind you.   
  
You looked over your shoulder and saw that all the lights were on in the building right across the field. “House.” You answered. You dropped the tarp when you saw both of the boys began to walk towards it without you.   
  
Walking at a brisk pace, you managed to catch up with both of them when Dean came up with a plan. “You and (Y/N) can go find Sue Ann. I’ll catch up.”   
  
“What are you…” Before you managed to even finish your question, Dean grabbed a hold of your sleeve and pushed you towards the direction that Sam was walking. You stumbled a bit, but you managed to catch your footing as you headed into the bushes with the youngest Winchester.   
  
You couldn’t help yourself but peek your head out a bit to see what Dean was going to do. He shouted at two officers that both of you had dealt with earlier. “You gonna put that fear of God in me?” He taunted, you rolled your eyes. One of these days that boy wasn’t going to be fast enough to outrun the person that he tried to make a target. You turned your head and watched as his blurry figure ran out of your sight, with two others following behind. Waiting a few moments, you waved your hand to notify that the coast was clear.   
  
Both of you jogged up towards the house, knowing that you had limited time until one of the officers came back my some odd chance. You headed up the steps and walked straight towards the windows. All though the lights were on, you couldn’t make out any sort of shadow against the walls to let you know that someone was in there. You and Sam scoured every inch of the place, checking every little crack to see inside the house, but you couldn’t see anyone in there.   
  
Cursing underneath your breath, you turned your backside towards the house as you looked out the distance to see something that could lead you and Sam towards her. When you looked down, your eyes widened in surprise. Just below you was a storm cellar, and through the crack, you could see light pouring through. You looked up and nodded your head towards Sam, you pointed towards the ground.   
  
Heading down towards the ground again, you prayed that Sue Ann was down there. You watched as Sam stepped forward and quietly opened up the two wooden doors. He stepped inside first, you followed behind. As you took a few steps down, you grabbed the doors and let them fall back down with a rather loud thud. You flinched as the noise echoed, Sam looked over his shoulder and gave you a look. You couldn’t help yourself but weakly smile, he just shook his head.   
  
You took your last step when Sam walked into the basement, his eyes wandering around the place. You noticed the place was being lit by candles that were scattered around the place. You walked around until both of you headed around the place until you stumbled across something that made your blood boil in rage.   
  
A wooden table was scattered with so many different objects, but all similar ones that needed to be done in order to conduct this ritual. What your eyes wandered towards the picture of a familiar person, Dean. His face was crossed out with something that looked to be blood. Sam picked it up and examined it for a few moments, a scowl slowly began to grow on his face.   
  
“I gave your friend life, and I can take it away. But I decided your brother was a better choice.”   
  
You quickly whipped around to face the woman that you had been hunting for. Before you thought about lunging for her and wrapping your hands around her neck, you decided to stop everything before it could happen. You and Sam grabbed either ends of the table and flipped it over. Everything broke into tiny pieces, nothing was left to make sure this ritual could be done. Or so you believed.   
  
When you looked up to see the look on Sue Ann’s face, you were quick to notice that she was nowhere to be seen. You and Sam quickly ran up the steps and tried your hardest to open the doors, but even with him trying his hardest, Sue Ann had both of you locked in here.   
  
“Sam, can’t you see? The Lord chose me to reward the just and punish the wicked. And your brother is wicked.” Sue Ann called out from the outside. You grunted in both frustration and pain, no matter how hard you pushed, the damn thing wouldn’t budge. “And he deserves to die, just as Layla deserves to live.”   
  
“Jesus, shut the hell up!” You yelled out in annoyance.   
  
Neither of you stuck around to hear what else she had to say, Sam nodded his head towards the other side of the basement when he found another possible opening. Both of you ran down the steps and headed towards the spot where he had pointed towards. He yanked something off the wall that turned into be some sort of pipe, all though it was strong enough to let him break down part of the wall. It wasn’t big enough for him to squeeze through, but you could manage to wiggle your way into the outdoors again.   
  
You dropped towards the ground with a thud, managing to land yourself into a pile of tall weeds that cushioned the fall. You made a plan to meet up after Sam got himself out; you would take care of Sue Ann and Sam would go find his brother. You walked around the area until you found yourself heading straight towards the tent again. If she needed to do this, she would have to be close enough to be near Roy.   
  
As you heard the sound of soft chanting in latin, you knew you were getting closer. Yes, part of you could deal with someone else dying for Layla. But when it involved someone that you knew your entire life, that’s when things got personal. You would be the first one to admit that Dean was a bit of a dick and deserved to be punished a bit. But taking his life to save someone you barely knew, you weren’t going to let it happen. You couldn’t.   
  
Sue Ann’s eyes were closed as she chanted a pray underneath her breath. Her hands were wrapped around the cross. She had no idea you were standing in front of her. You reached out and yanked the chain right off her neck with a Snap! and the cross fell towards the ground. The small bowl of blood in a glass bowl crashed from the impact.   
  
Like a little follower, she ran towards the mess and dropped towards her knees. “My God!” She cried out, her eyes scanning the broken glass and blood. She turned her head and gave you a death glare. “What have you done?!”   
  
“He’s not your God.” You said.   
  
Before she had a chance to respond, her head whipped forward to see someone in the distance. Her breathing became heavy from fear as she tried her hardest to get up from the ground from falling. All though you couldn’t see him, the reaper was here to get what he wanted. You watched as she slowly began to drop towards her knees, a wide-eyed expression grew across her face. In just a matter of moments she was now on her backside, shaking until her body stopped moving. You let out a breath and shook your head.   
  
“Have fun burning in Hell, bitch.” You muttered underneath your breath.   
  
You turned around and walked away from the soon to be crime scene. You clenched your coat tight around your body as rain began to pour from the clouded sky, a crack of thunder rang through your ears. When you saw the car come into view, you caught both of the boys standing on either side of it. You sighed in relief when you saw Dean standing, but he was leaning on the top of the car in pain.   
  
“You okay?” You asked, stepping so you were now standing right next to him.   
  
“Hell of week.” Dean commented. He looked down and stared at you directly in the eye. You couldn’t help yourself but softly chuckle, that was an understatement.   
  
“Come on. We should get going.” Sam said.   
  
All three of you opened up the car door and slid inside. You sat in the middle of the backseat, hearing the engine run only made you realize that you didn’t save the day, in the way that someone can live a normal life. Layla was still going to die in a few months. And no matter how much you fought it, you still felt everything should have been different.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The next morning, you sat in the boys’ motel room with your belongings on the floor. You had been just hanging around the place waiting for them to finish up packing. You hadn’t said much as you laid on Sam’s bed, keeping your mind occupied by playing around with a loose string on your shirt. When you saw the youngest Winchester grab a book from the nightstand, his eyes lingered towards you as he walked towards the end of the bed where his duffel bag sat.   
  
“What is it?” You looked up in confusion, but you saw his green eyes just staring at you.   
  
“Nothing.” You mumbled, shaking your head.   
  
Sam wasn’t going to take that as an answer. He placed his hands on his hips and tried again. “What is it?”   
  
“We did the right thing here, didn’t we?” You asked in a quiet tone.   
  
“Of course we did.” Sam said, you sighed to yourself.   
  
“It doesn’t feel like it.” You admitted.   
  
Suddenly there was a knock on the door that caused your head to turn to see who it was. Your face scrunched up in confusion. Sam announced that he would get it since he was the one standing. You watched from the corner of your eye to see who it was, not paying much attention. That was until you heard a familiar name.   
  
“Hey, Layla. Come on in.” Sam said, stepping to the side so she could walk inside.   
  
You got off the bed when you saw her come into view, you tried to smile when you made eye contact with her. “Hey.” You said. “How’d you know we were here?”   
  
“Sam called. He said you wanted to say goodbye.” You looked up at the youngest Winchester, he couldn’t help but smile as he pointed towards the outside. He nodded his head for his brother to follow.   
  
:”We’re gonna…grab a soda. RIght, Dean?” Sam asked, Dean kept quiet and followed behind. The motel door closed leaving both of you alone in an awkward silence.   
  
“So, um…” Layla began after a few moments. You turned around as she walked towards one of the beds. “Where are you going?”   
  
“Oh, I don’t know yet. Their work takes them all over, I’m kind of tagging along for now.” You said, shrugging your shoulders. You couldn’t help yourself but wince when you awkwardly mumbled out something. “So…”   
  
“”You know, I went back to see Roy.” Layla said, you nervously gulped to find out the answer.   
  
“What happened?” You asked.   
  
She shook her head, heading towards the edge of the bed as she sat down. “Nothing.” She admitted. You could see a small smile spread across her face as you took a seat next to her. “He laid his hands on my forehead, but nothing happened.”   
  
“I’m sorry.” You said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work.”   
  
“And Sue Ann.” Her eyebrows scrunched together. You felt a pang of regret at when she mentioned the woman you had left. “She’s dead, you know. Stroke.”   
  
“Yeah, I heard.” You lied, looking down at the ground for a few seconds. “Roy’s a good man. He didn’t deserve what’s happened.” Your eyes darted towards her when a silence fell for a few seconds. “Must be rough…to believe in something so much and have it disappoint you like that.”   
  
Layla’s response wasn’t something that you had expected. You watched as the ends of her lips twitched into a smile as she locked eyes with you. “You wanna hear something weird?” You nodded your head, humming a response. “I’m okay. Really. I guess if you’re gonna have faith, you can’t just have it when the miracles happen. You have to have it when they don’t.”   
  
You softly chuckled, remembering to tell yourself that word of wisdom when things looked down. You looked around the room before speaking up again. “So, what now?” You asked.   
  
She shrugged her shoulders as she let in a deep breath. “God works in mysterious ways.” Layla smiled again as she reached up a hand, placing it on your shoulder. You swallowed again when she spoke up. “Goodbye, (Y/N).”   
  
You watched as she got up from the bed and began to walk towards the door, you got up from the bed as you called her name. She stopped walking and turned around to look at you. “Um…” You cleared your throat as you weakly smiled. “You know, I’m not the praying type, but…I’m gonna pray for you.”   
  
A look of surprise came across her face as a smile twitched around her face again. “Well, there’s a miracle right there.” And with that being said, you watched as she turned around and walked towards the door. She turned the knob and slipped out. You couldn’t help yourself but feel the tears prick your eyes. If you ever hear of her name again, she’ll be dead. But you have to remind yourself that she won’t be suffering anymore.   
  
You let out a breath as you turned around and headed towards the beds again. You grabbed the shirt that Sam was holding earlier. Out of habit, you began to fold it and place it neatly inside his bag. You felt a chuckle escape your throat when you thought about the time when you the boys took care of you when you got sick.   
  
It was just a few days after your mother had passed away, you came down with the flu. Your body had been under so much stress, you weren’t surprised you got sick. And it was a perfect excuse to lay in bed and miss school. The boys had decided to stay with you just in case you needed their help when their father went off to work on a few case. You were fine for the first week, but soon the fever spiked towards a hundred and three. That’s when the worst part began to happen. Your temperature caused hallucinations, dizzy spells that barely made you stand up straight in bed and you woke up every few hours either covered in your own sweat or shaking from the chills that wracked your body when you woke up from your deep slumber.   
  
A clear memory was burned in your mind from the time. It was just a few days before your fever broke. You were trying to sleep, but each time that you closed your eyes, all you could think about was the nightmare that happened a few days ago. Somehow you managed to get yourself asleep for a few hours, but you woke up with your t-shirt drenched in sweat as you frantically looked around the room to see a monster, but everything seemed normal. It was morning; the birds were chirping and a nice breeze touched your flustered skin. You blinked a few times and evened out your breathing when your eyes landed on someone sitting in your favorite reading chair.   
  
Dean was fast asleep, his head was drooping down as his hands were loosely wrapped around the weapon that was tucked away in the side cushion.The sight of his sleeping body made a smile spread across your face. You quietly got off your bed and reached for the extra blanket that sat at the edge. You made your way over and draped the blanket over his sleeping body. And in a surprise move, you leaned down and pressed your lips against his forehead. It was nothing more than a thank you. Those few days for you were so terrifying, and no matter what, Dean never broke. He always made sure you and Sam were okay.   
  
It was one memory that you loved to look back on when things were a bit gloomy, but you were feeling more positive. You really don’t know what you would do without those boys. All three of you were the only family that you really had left. Maybe it wasn’t your time to die. Sometimes…life does work in mysterious ways, you just have to fight and figure out a way to see a new day.


	12. Route 666.

Each palm was pressed on top of the black hood as you leaned your body against the Impala. Your eyes squinted as you bent down closer to read the small print that was supposed to be town names. The yellow scribbles and blue blobs weren’t making sense. Your face scrunched up at what you tried to read, but everything was just becoming gibberish in your mind.   
  
So reading maps wasn’t your strong point. It was still better than sitting in the backseat of the Impala waiting for Dean to finish up his hushed conversation that he was having in the distance. As you leaned in closer to make out a name that looked familiar, you could feel someone’s breath tickling the back of your neck. It made you twitch in discomfort.   
  
You turned your head to see that Sam was hovering over your body, his eyes were glued towards the map. You gritted your teeth in frustration. The youngest Winchester was a very impatient person, but he never would show it towards you. He subtly hint towards this behavior, dropping small hints until he was…well, standing over you like a shadow. You snatched the map from the hood and handed it towards his waiting hands.   
  
“Here. Do what you do best, nerd.” You joked.   
  
Sam rolled his eyes, not quite amused with your behavior as he slapped the map against the roof of the Impala so he could see it better. You watched as stared at it for a few minutes, his pointer finger tracing around a line until he tapped it against a black dot. He looked down at you, a smug smirk spread across his lips as you saw part of his dimples pop out. Now it was your turn to roll your eyes at his behavior.   
  
“Okay, I think I found a way we can bypass that construction just east of here. We might even make Pennsylvania faster than we thought.” Sam explained, looking up from the map for a few moments to look at his brother before returning his attention back towards the piece of paper.   
  
“Yeah.” Was all Dean muttered when he closed his cell phone and headed back towards the driver’s side. You could see the serious glare written on his face, that was never a good sign. He spoke up again, making a question burn in the back of your mind. “Problem is we’re not going to Pennsylvania.”   
  
“Wait–what?” Sam questioned. A chuckle escaped his throat when he opened his arms out of confusion. He stopped folding the map and looked his brother, demanding an answer.   
  
“I just got a call from an old friend. Her father was killed last night.” Dean informed you and Sam. He looked up from his cell phone and focused his attention on the both of you. “She thinks it might be our kind of thing.”   
  
“What?” You asked. You were part in shock at the news, the other part filled with confusion.   
  
“Yeah, believe me, she never would have called if she didn’t need us.” Dean explained. He opened up the driver’s side door and slipped inside. You looked over at Sam, who appeared to be as baffled as you were. “Come on. You guys coming or what?” Dean called out impatiently.   
  
You grabbed the back seat door and opened it, sliding yourself in as you heard the engine being turned on. Sam pondered outside for a few seconds before shadowing your actions and stepping into the passenger’s side next to his brother. All three of you headed off in the opposite direction of where you were going to go. Those spirits were just going to have to wait. You had wondered what was so special about Dean’s little friend. Last time you remembered, it was like pulling teeth to get the eldest Winchester to help out his brother’s friends. As you watched the gas station begin to grow smaller in the distance, you hoped this change in plans was worth it.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The first ten minutes of the car ride was silence, it made your mind begin to fill with different questions that were demanding answers. This case back in Pennsylvania was important. And it wasn’t like Dean to just drop everything when someone came calling. Well, when you thought about it a bit more, you don’t remember any actual friends calling him–even if it was just to say hello.   
  
You decided to get some answers towards the questions that began to burn in the back of your mind when Dean gave you little information about this woman. You placed your hands on the front seat cushions and positioned yourself in between the boys. Curiosity was getting the best of you. And you were sure Dean wouldn’t mind a game of twenty questions to spice up the dull conversation that wasn’t happening.   
  
“So, by ‘old friend,’ you mean…” Your voice trailed off. You placed your head in your hands as you looked at him with your eyebrows arched up.   
  
“A friend that’s not new.” He simply answered.   
  
You rolled your eyes and quietly laughed at his answer. “Yeah, thanks.” You sarcastically remarked. “So, her name is Cassie, huh? You’ve never mentioned her.”   
  
“Didn’t I?” The eldest Winchester glanced over at you.   
  
“No. Not even to me.” Sam spoke up.   
  
“Yeah, we went out.” Dean said, acting as if he was just discussing the weather.   
  
“You mean you dated someone? For more than one night?” You asked in a surprised tone. Dean turned his head to give you a glare. But you kept going. “One Hit Wonder Dean had a little girlfriend?”   
  
He stared at you for a few moments between trying to concentrate on the road at the same time. “Am I speaking a language you’re not getting here?” You and Sam couldn’t help yourselves but smile at how defensive Dean was getting. “Dad and I were working a job in Athens, Ohio. She was finishing up college. We went out for a couple of weeks.”   
  
“And?” Sam asked.   
  
Dean just shrugged his shoulders as his face scrunched up slightly. All of you fell silent for a few moments. He didn’t give you much of a reason why this girl was so important to drop everything at a simple call. Another question burned in the back of your mind when you realized she knew their family’s little secret. Nobody was to know about it. You wondered what made her so special.   
  
“Look, it’s terrible about her dad, but it kind of sounds like a standard car accident. I’m not seeing how it fits with what we do.” You said. “Which, by the way, how does she know what you guys do?”   
  
Dean fell silent again. You could see from the rear view mirror of how he nervously licked his lips as he kept all of his concentration on the road. He opened his mouth to speak, but he immediately shut it. Sam was the next one to talk, and he wasn’t very happy at the connections that he made inside his mind.   
  
“You told her. You told her the secret.” Sam yelled out in anger. “Our big family rule number one–we do what we do and we shut up about it. For a year and a half, I do nothing but lie to Jessica. (Y/N) had to keep it for almost a decade from everyone. But you go out with his chick in Ohio a couple of times and you tell her everything?”   
  
The oldest Winchester still wasn’t budging. You shook your head. “Dean!” You hissed out in anger.   
  
“Yeah, looks like.” Was Dean’s big response for the both of you.   
  
You rolled your eyes in frustration as you let your body drop back towards the seat. It seemed that Sam and you were just fools into thinking that keeping a secret like this was important. How many times have you forced smiles and told the poor excuse of what happened to your mother towards the police and curious neighbors. It must be pretty high up there on that horse, is what you wanted to tell Dean next. But he seemed too busy concentrating on his little friend than care to listen on what you or Sam had to say.   
  
\+ + +     
  
You stepped inside the building of a newspaper company, the place where Cassie worked for the past few years. All three of you walked until you stopped at a desk, your eyes wandered towards a group of people. Two of them had their backs turned to you as the other one talked. Their conversation was being wrapped up, but from what you could hear, it didn’t seem like a pleasant one.   
  
You watched as the two men disburse from the group leaving the female to stand there for a few moments before she turned around towards the direction of you and the boys. Her brown eyes were glued towards the floor for a few moments before they trailed upwards–landing on Dean. The woman’s face became written with shock as her eyes widened a bit. So, this must be Cassie. You could see why he would take an interest in her. She was rather pretty from the details you could make out from the distance she stood from you.   
  
“Dean.” She said his name. She walked up towards the three of you, her gaze still stuck on her old romance.   
  
“Hey, Cassie.” Dean said with a weak smile. His hands were shoved inside his pockets to keep anyone from noticing his twitching fingers. Cassie looked at Sam first and slowly over at you. The confusion could be seen in her eyes. Dean cleared his throat, forgetting that he didn’t introduce you and Sam first. “This is my brother, Sam. And this is my friend, (Y/N).” You weakly smiled at her, watching as her face turn into realization. “I’m sorry about your dad.”   
  
“Yeah, me too.” Was her only response.   
  
Your upper lip scrunched up as a small, awkward silence fell between the four of you. You glanced over at Sam who politely smiled to Cassie. Dean was just lost in his own thoughts again. You quietly breathed through your nose. This might be harder than you thought.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Cassie offered to take this conversation a little bit more private cso all of you could go through the details of her father’s sudden death. You sat on the loveseat while the brothers sat on the couch. Her mother’s house was rather comfortable looking. It was the kind of place where you could have guests over and have a nice dinner. Suddenly you began to wonder if Dean could have been one of them.   
  
You pictured him sitting on the couch, Cassie right by his side as her parents made conversation towards the daughter’s fling. You wondered if they were serious enough to get that far. You began to wonder a lot of things about this girl. You haven’t even known her for an entire day and you began to question how serious Dean was with this woman. It was just strange to think Dean–the infamous womanizer–had a woman for more than a single night. Sure you knew he was capable of love, but part of you wondered how long it could last before he got scared and ran off.   
  
“My mother’s in pretty bad shape. I’ve been staying with her.” Cassie’s voice coming from the doorway caused you to break your concentration from your thoughts. Your eyes trailed over to see that she was walking towards the three of you with a tray of cups and a tea kettle that was still puffing out steam from the red nozzle.   
  
“I wish she wouldn’t go off by herself. She’s been so nervous and frightened.” She continued. Cassie placed down the tray at the table that was just a few feet from all of you. She began to pour the hot water into the cups. “She was worried about Dad.”   
  
“Why?” Dean asked.   
  
She looked over her shoulder for a few moments before turning her attention back towards the kettle. “He was scared. He was seeing things.”   
  
“Like what?”   
  
“He swore he saw an awful-looking black truck following him.” She answered.   
  
“A truck? Who was the driver?” Sam questioned.   
  
Cassie shrugged her shoulders, not knowing the answer. “He didn’t talk about the driver. Just the truck.” She turned around with two cups and walked over towards the end table on Dean’s side. She placed two sugar cubes into the cups before handing it towards the brothers. “He said it would appear and disappear. And in the accident, Dad’s car was dented like it had been slammed into something big.”   
  
She walked back over towards the tray and grabbed one for yourself. You smiled at her when she walked over and handed the cup towards you. “Thanks.” You mumbled. As you blew softly on the hot liquid, you watched from the corner of your eye as she took a seat on the chair that was right next to you. Of course, you didn’t fail to notice that it was across from where Dean was sitting. You dropped the weird quiescence and focused on what Sam was asking.   
  
“Now, you’re sure this dent was there before?” Sam asked.   
  
Cassie shook her head. “He sold cars, always drove a new one. There wasn’t a scratch on that thing. It had rained hard that night. There was mud everywhere. There was a distinct set of muddy tracks from Dad’s car leading right…” She suddenly fell silent for a few moments. You looked at her with a sympathetic expression as she spoke up again. Her voice broke when she finished her sentence. “To the edge where he went over.”   
  
She looked down at her lap, trying her hardest not to burst into tears when she talked about her father’s death. Cassie sucked in a breath and glanced back up again. “One set of tracks–his.” She explained, her tone of voice was rushed out.   
  
“And the first person killed was a friend of your father’s?” Dean wondered.   
  
“Best friend–Clayton Solmes. They owned a car dealership together.” Cassie answered. She shook her head again. “Same thing. Dent, no tracks. And the cops said exactly what they said about Dad–’He lost control of his car.’”   
  
“Can you think of why your father and his partner might be targets?” You asked. You placed your cup back onto the small plate.   
  
She shook her head as her eyes rolled up towards the ceiling. You could tell she was telling the truth from the small things she was doing. “No.”   
  
“You think that the vanishing trunk ran him off the road?” You questioned again. But when you realized what you had said, you mentally winced at the awkward phrasing.   
  
“When you say it aloud like that…” She mumbled underneath her breath. Cassie kept looking up before focusing her gaze on the boys. “Look, I’m a little skeptical about this ghost stuff or whatever it is you guys do.”   
  
Dean chuckled to himself as he looked at the ground. A smile spread across his face when he spoke up. “Skeptical. If I remember, I think you said it was nuts.”   
  
“That was then.” She whispered.   
  
“Hmm.” Dean hummed out, nodding his head.   
  
You looked at both of them as you kept quiet to yourself. It looked like these two didn’t leave on the best conditions. What a lovely case this was going to be. You pressed the cup towards your lips as you focused your attention on your shoes.   
  
“I just know that I can’t explain what happened up there. So I called you.” Cassie said, her eyes fixated on Dean. But everyone’s heads turned when the front door opened and an older woman stumbled inside. All of you jumped out of your seats when she tried to head past the living room without being noticed by anyone. “Mom. Where have you been?” Cassie called out.   
  
“I had no idea you’d have friends over.” Her mother said. You noticed her hand was pressed against her chest as her eyes wandered towards you and the boys. Her face looked like she had seen something terrifying. She began to realize your gaze was still upon her, she quickly tried to compose herself to look normal.   
  
“Mom, this is Dean.” Cassie explained, gesturing an arm towards the oldest Winchester. She looked at him for a few moments, not sure how to introduce him. What she said made you laugh at your thoughts from before. “A friend of mine from…college.” They had never even gotten that far to introduce parents? Now this is something you could believe. “This is his brother, Sam. And his friend, (Y/N).” You politely smiled at the older woman.   
  
“Well, I-I-I-I won’t interrupt you.” Her mother stuttered out. She turned towards the direction to leave, but Dean's stopped her before she could even take a step forward.   
  
“Mrs. Robinson?” Dean called out.   
  
“Hmm?” Was her response.   
  
“We’re sorry for your loss.” Dean said in a polite tone. “We’d like to talk to you for a minute, if you don’t minute.”   
  
Mrs. Robinson looked at Dean with an upset expression. “I’m not really up for that right now.” And with that being her answer, she patted her daughter's’ arm before walking off.   
  
You looked up at Dean to see that his facial expression was sketched with a sympathetic look. He looked over at Cassie and tried to smile. But she did nothing more than look at him with an expression that read something like he should have known better. He looked at his brother and then you. You weakly gave a smile, not sure what else to say or do.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The next morning you were woken up rather early to be informed that someone else related towards Cassie’s father was in a car accident. All three of you headed towards the crime scene where Cassie had been for the past half n’ hour, trying to get some answers. You tried to get the sleep out of your eyes as you walked away from the car. The dream that you had last night was rather unsettling and kept you up for most of the night, trying to figure out where it came from.   
  
You stood in the distance when you saw that the boys stopped walking. Your eyes trailed over towards Cassie, she was arguing with the same man you had seen her with yesterday afternoon. She had determination, that’s for sure. The way she fired questions at the man and didn’t back off when his pitiful attempts of answers, that was something you could admire about her. She wasn’t like most women that Dean back back towards the motel. All though it was almost a rare thing for you to have seen these past few months, it still happened. It was just still weird for you to see a woman that he kept in his sights for more than just a few hours.   
  
Cassie was different from anyone that Dean had tried to target his sights on. She was smart, strong headed, and…really pretty.  You tilted your head towards the side, wondering what caused the two to break it off after just a few weeks. What made them not want to try a long distance relationship? You could pick up how happy Dean looked when she was around or the spark in her eyes when she talked to him. There was something real there. Why were they denying something that made them feel good? Romance, it was something you still didn’t know how it worked.   
  
“Accidents happen, Cassie. That’s what they are–accidents.” The man standing in front of her explained. You heard the conversation more clearly when all three of you approached Cassie and the older man. You glanced over at the scene. It wasn’t something that looked more than just your standard car accident, that was for sure.   
  
“Did the cops check for denting on Jimmy’s car to see if it was pushed?” Dean spoke up, jumping into the conversation. Cassie and the man turned their heads to look at him and Sam. Confusion stretched across the man’s face.   
  
“Who’s this?” The man asked, nodding his head towards Dean.   
  
“Dean and Sam Winchester. And (Y/N) (Y/L/N). Family friends.” Cassie introduced all four of you. “This is Mayor Harold Todd.”   
  
“There’s one set of tracks–one. Doesn’t point towards foul play.” Harold explained. You looked over at the car again. Your eyebrows furrowed at the damage that you saw. This wasn’t just some accidental swerve and flip. Someone had to have pushed that car. The only damage that you could see was mostly towards the front. You and the boys looked at one another. Something wasn’t right here.   
  
“Mayor, the police and the town officials take their cues from you. If you’re indifferent about–” Before Cassie could finish her sentence, the mayor cut her off as his eyebrows jumped in shock.   
  
“Indifferent?” He asked in a shocked tone.   
  
“Would you close the road if the victims were white?” Cassie questioned. You looked at the man, waiting for his response.   
  
“You’re suggesting I’m a racist, Cassie. I’m the last person you should talk to like that.” He said in a matter of fact voice.   
  
“Why is that?” She kept going. Her voice still wasn’t letting off from the harsh tone she used on him.   
  
“Why don’t you ask your mother?” And with that being said, he looked at all four of you before walking off and heading somewhere else. Cassie looked at the three of you, but never speaking up again. It seemed that she had only gotten more questions out of this useless conversation.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You stood in the background as you watched the boys finish up getting ready. All of you were back into the cheap suits that you had bought a long time ago for the demon case you didn’t care to remember about again. You tugged at your black skirt, squirming around until the itchy fabric wasn’t bothering you as much.   
  
“I’ll say this for her–she’s fearless.” Sam said. He grabbed his black jacket from the bed and slipped it on, walking over towards the vanity dresser where his brother was standing.   
  
“Mm-hmm.” Dean muttered. He fixed his tie, not bothering to look at Sam.   
  
“Bet she kicked your ass a couple of times.” Sam joked.   
  
You walked up towards the boys and leaned your body against the wood. “What’s interesting is that you guys never really look at each other at the same time. You look at her when she’s not looking. She checks you out when you look away.” You said. Dean turned his head to look at you. His facial expression was blank, not sure what you were trying to get at. “It’s just a–just an interesting observation. In a, you know, observationally interesting way.”   
  
Dean’s face slowly turned into anger, like you had just hit a sensitive nerve. “You think we might have some more pressing issues here?” He asked you.   
  
“Hey, if I’m hitting a nerve here…” You threw your hands up in defense, a smile spreading across your lips when you watched him bolt for the door.   
  
“Oh, let’s go.” Dean muttered underneath his breath.   
  
You and Sam looked at one another for a few seconds before chuckling to yourselves before following the eldest Winchester to the Impala that was parked outside of the motel room.

\+ + +

All three of you headed down towards the docks to talk to a friend of Cassie’s father. You observed the place to see that there were people sitting on benches either fishing or gazing at the peaceful view of the water. You walked until all of you stopped at a bench and where two older men sat, enjoying a quiet lunch and a game of checkers.

  
“Excuse me, are you Ron Stubbings?” Dean asked the gentleman on the right side from where he was standing. “Friends with Jimmy Anderson?”   
  
“Who are you?” The man closest towards you asked. You noticed that he nodded his head to answer Dean’s question.   
  
“We’re with Mr. Anderson’s insurance company. Just here to dot some I’s and cross some T’s.” Dean explained.   
  
“We were just wondering, had a the deceased mentioned any usual recent experiences?” Sam questioned.   
  
The man’s face scrunched up in confusion. “What do you mean, ‘unusual’?”   
  
“Well, visions, hallucinations. It’s all part of a medical examination kind of thing.” You lied, flashing a small smile when you stumbled out an empty excuse. But it seemed that the men were buying it.   
  
“What company you said you were with?” He asked.   
  
“All National Mutual.” Dean opened up his jacket pocket and pulled out a piece of folded up paper. You knew that it was nothing more than just a flyer for an opening of a new business. But the men didn’t need to know that. “Tell me, did he ever mention a truck. A big, black truck?”   
  
“What the hell are you talking about?” The man asked. He turned his gaze away from Dean as he focused his attention towards making his next move. “You even speaking English?”   
  
“Son, this truck, a big scary monster-looking thing?” Your eyes were drawn towards the second man. He spoke up for the first time since the conversation started. But his question was something that could help the three of you as it lead towards answers that seemed to spark some ideas of what was happening.   
  
“Yeah, actually, I think so.” Dean answered.   
  
“Hmm.” The second man hummed to himself. He nodded his head.   
  
“What?” You asked in a curious tone.   
  
“I have heard of the truck like that.” The man said. Your eyebrows arched up in surprise.   
  
“You have?” Sam asked. He glanced over at his brother before before back the man. It seemed that you were getting somewhere after all. “Where?”   
  
“Not where–when.” He corrected Sam. “Back in the sixties, there was a string of deaths. Black men. Story goes they disappeared in a big, nasty black truck.”   
  
“They ever catch the guy that did it?” Dean questioned.   
  
“Never found him. Hell, not sure they even really looked.” He said. “See, there was a time this town wasn’t too friendly to all its citizens.” You nodded your head, knowing very well what he was hinting at.   
  
“Thank you.” You said, giving him a smile before heading towards the boys that were already heading back towards the car.   
  
You managed to catch up, but falling a bit behind when they began to walk in perfect sync. When you watched them, you never really noticed before of how much it happened quite often. You loosened your black tie that felt like it was choking you as you listened in on the conversation that the brothers were having about this case and the phantom truck,   
  
“Truck. Keeps coming up, doesn't it?” Sam wondered.   
  
“I was thinking. You heard of the Flying Dutchman?” Dean asked.   
  
“Yeah, a ghost ship infused with the captain’s evil spirit. It was basically a part of him.” The youngest Winchester said, not thinking much about it.   
  
“So, what if we’re dealing with the same thing? A phantom truck who’s the extension of some Bastard ghost re-enacting past crimes.” Dean explained. It seemed logical enough to explain the string of accidents.   
  
“The victims have been all black men.” You pointed out.   
  
“I think it’s more than that. They all seem to be connected to Cassie and her family.” Dean thought out loud. You couldn’t help yourself but roll your eyes, suddenly thankful that you were standing behind them.   
  
“All right, well, you work on that angle. Go talk to her.” You said.   
  
“Yeah, I will.” Dean muttered underneath his breath.   
  
“Oh…and you might want to mention the other thing.” You dropped a suggestion. Yous stopped in your tracks when you saw Dean turn around. His face was scrunched up with confusion at what you were trying to get at. You bit your bottom lip to keep a laugh from escaping your mouth.   
  
“What other thing?” He asked in a dumbfounded tone.   
  
“The serious unfinished business.” Sam jumped into the conversation. A chuckle rolled out as he shoved his hands inside his pant pockets.   
  
“Dean, what is going on between the two of you?” You curiously asked.   
  
The oldest Winchester looked at the both of you for a few moments. “So maybe we were a little bit more involved than I said.” You rolled your eyes, a smile spreading across your lips. You didn’t know why you were finding this so amusing to see Dean becoming all flustered when he talked about his past romance.   
  
“Oh, okay, yeah.” You said in a sarcastic tone.  You looked at him, nodding your head for him to spill more secrets. And he did.   
  
“Okay, a lot more,…maybe.” Dean explained. “I told her the secret about what we do, and I shouldn’t have.”   
  
“Look, everybody’s got to open up to someone sometime.” You said, shrugging your shoulders. “You can only keep it bottled up before you break.”   
  
“Yeah, I don’t.” Dean argued. “It was stupid of me to get that close. I mean, look how it ended.” You and Sam just looked at him with matching smiles. Dean didn’t as amused as both of you were. “Would you guy stop? Blink or something.”   
  
“You loved her. Didn’t you?” You asked.   
  
“Oh, God.” Dean muttered underneath his breath. He turned around and began to walk towards the Impala. You continued talking, not caring that he was trying to avoid the subject. So maybe curiosity was getting the best of you. But it wouldn’t hurt to see how serious he was about this girl. He was your best friend, after all, and you had a right to know this kind of stuff.   
  
“You were in love with her, but you dumped her.” You theorized, following behind him. You watched as he dug inside his jacket pocket to fetch his keys. His gaze was kept on the ground for a few moments before looking at you. Your mouth formed an oval shape when you realized that it was the opposite. “Oh, wow.” You muttered. Dean was still quiet, he looked at the docks. “She dumped you.“   
  
“Get in the car, Nancy Drew.” Dean hissed. You bit the inside of your cheek when you watched him open up the door and slide inside. You winced when he shouted the command at you again. “Get in the car!”   
  
\+ + +   
  
You headed back towards the motel and spent the rest of the afternoon by yourself. You changed out of your formal clothing and changed into something more comfortable. It wasn’t until later in the day when you finally decided to emerge from your room and head down the hall to check on the boys. Mostly because there was nothing on TV and your stomach began to feel like it was going to cave in from starvation.  You made sure to lock the door behind you just incase someone decided to snoop around.   
  
Shoving the key inside your back pocket, you headed down the hall and knocked on the motel room door. It took a few moments, but you watched as the door opened up to reveal half of Sam’s face. He peeked out to see if you were a stranger. But when he realized it was just you, his face relaxed a bit.   
  
You smiled at him, laughing at how secretive the brothers were. “Hey little kid, wanna buy some candy?” You asked in a fake, deep tone. You winked at him when he stepped backwards and let you inside the room. You looked around the room for the other Winchester to see if he was here, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Dean?” You curiously asked.   
  
“You just missed him.” Sam said. You heard the door close and his footsteps on the carpet before his body appeared out of the corner of your eye. He grabbed his laptop and sat back down at the edge of his bed.   
  
“Oh.” You mumbled. You noticed that your voice sounded disappointed at the news. You tried to change the subject, but it still lingered around on Dean. “Did he happen to tell you where he was heading at this time of night?”   
  
“He listened to your advice and went to talk to Cassie.” Sam explained. “Of course, don’t expect him to be back anytime soon.”   
  
You nodded your head, walking over towards the bed opposite of his and sat down. The room kept quiet for a few moments, but the sound of your stomach growling quickly broke it. You felt Sam’s eyes slowly linger towards you. A blush of embarrassment crept across your cheeks when you made eye contact with him. You gave him a crooked smile when you saw his lips stretch into a grin.   
  
“Sorry.” You said. You pressed your palm against your stomach, trying to keep it from happening again.   
  
“Don’t be. I’m glad someone’s up for a bite to eat.” Sam chuckled. “I saw a bar just a few blocks down the street from here. Since it’s just the two of us, wanna check it out?”   
  
“Only if you’re buying.” You said, jumping off from the bed and headed towards the door with Sam on your heels.   
  
You heard Sam chuckle again and mumble something underneath his breath before both of you headed towards the streets and began walking towards the bar. The both of you made small talk that seemed to have made the time pass quicker than you thought.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You and Sam stepped inside the dim lit bar that was already packed with people, even though it was still early in the night. Both of you managed to squeeze yourself through the crowd until you spotted a secluded spot away from the noise and people. You took a seat on the bar stool when Sam asked what you wanted to drink. You had to shout your answer, trying to be heard from the music that was playing some classic rock song on an obnoxiously loud volume. It was so loud that you could feel the vibrations of the beat echo through your chest.   
  
You fidgeted around in your seat until you got comfortable. These kinds of chairs weren’t your favorite, but it was the only thing that was available. Most of the other tables were taken by other people. You were quick to notice that almost all of them were occupied by couples that were out to have a good time. You broke your concentration away from the crowd as you tried to focus on your nail bits. Suddenly you began to wonder what was taking so long with those drinks.   
  
Turning around, you looked over to see that there was a break in the crowd, allowing you to focus on the youngest Winchester. He was a bit distracted at the moment. Sam was talking towards a pretty brunette that seemed to be luring him into a deep conversation. But you were quick to notice her tactic to keep his attention, her low-cut top that seemed to draw the eyes of the men around her, and a certain someone from time to time.   
  
You dropped your body back into the seat and let out a breath of annoyance. It seemed that everyone was having a bit of fun the romance department. Looks like you were on your own for now.   
  
“(Y/N)?”   
  
Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion when you heard someone shout your name. You looked back to see if it was Sam, but he was still talking. The stranger called your name again. Glancing over your shoulder, your eyes landed on a very familiar face.   
  
“Josh?”   
  
Your voice was nothing more than surprise at who stood in front of you. Josh was holding a cold beer in one hand and that killer smile spread across his lips. He walked over towards you and sat down the glass bottle towards the table top. You were quick to notice his pressed black button up shirt with his sleeves rolled up towards the elbows. He looked like he was on a date, or waiting for someone special.   
  
“What are you doing here?” Both of you asked the question the same time. You smiled at him, nodding your head for him to answer first. Your fingers reached up to wrap themselves around your neck as you rested your elbow on the table. The skin beneath your fingertips was beginning to burn. Oh how you hated that you got so embarrassed easily.   
  
“I’m in town, visiting some friends since I have some free time. You know, a nice little change of scenery. And I think my grandparents really wanted me out of the house since college is done for the year.” Josh explained. You nodded your head. “What are you doing out here? I thought you were done with the road trip with your friend.”   
  
You opened your mouth to make an excuse, but you didn’t feel like lying to anyone at the moment. It felt nice to open up to someone and pretend that everything going on around you…well, wasn’t happening. “I don’t want to be home right now because of that weird break in. And you know, I’ve been having so much fun with them I decided to stick around. It’s kind of nice to have the open road at your fingertips and forget about your problems for a while.”   
  
“You know, one day we’re gonna have to grow up and face them.” Josh said. He lifted the glass bottle towards his lips and took a long sip before dropping it back down again towards the table. “But I like to pretend that everything is perfect at this moment. I got an ice cold beer and a beautiful woman to talk to. What could be more perfect?”   
  
You bit your bottom lip and looked down at the table, you were suddenly becoming thankful of the dim lighting in the bar so he couldn’t see your tinted rose color that was beginning to grow on your cheeks. Suddenly you were conscious of your baggy flannel shirt and dirty jeans you haven’t washed in three days. You mentally cursed at yourself for changing into something nicer.All though in your defense, you didn’t think in a million years you would be running into Josh, of all people in the entire world.   
  
You and Josh ended up talking for a few minutes, mostly about small things. You found yourself playing with your hand and tilting your head towards the side. Never in your life had you giggled and smiled so much at what a man had said to you. It was nice to stop thinking about what the boys were doing or if something was lurking behind you. When you were around Josh, you began to notice you felt comfortable to be yourself.   
  
“Hey, sorry it took me so long–” Sam voice echoed in your ears, but you didn’t seem to notice he was standing in front of you with his hands holding your drink and food in the other. He cleared his throat loud enough to get your attention.   
  
You looked away from Josh to see Sam, but his eyes were fixated on the man that was standing across from you. His gaze was a mix of confusion and borderline anger. All though you didn’t seem to notice, your focus shifted towards the steaming food that sat in the Winchester’s hand. Your lips stretched into a smile.   
  
“Oh my God, gimme.” You said with your arms out. You grabbed the plate from Sam’s hand and popped a fry into your mouth, not caring that they were still hot. You didn’t care. You were that starving. “I thought you got lost or something.” You mumbled between chews.   
  
“I was talking to someone.” Sam bluntly explained. His eyes were still focused on the man that was sitting in his spot. He pointed a finger at Josh. “Who are you?”   
  
“Josh Carver. I’m a friend of (Y/N). We met a while back.” Josh said, but Sam was still confused. “I was the one that almost got his knees broken.”    
  
“Oh, that Josh. Nice to see you again.”  Sam mumbled, nodding his head. “Look, I don’t mean to sound rude, but we’re kind of in the middle of something very important.”   
  
“Sam!” You hissed at him. You were shocked to see how mean he was being.   
  
“No, no. I gotta get going anyway, my cousin wants to go home.” Josh explained. He pointed towards the brunette that was lingering at the bar, the same one that Sam was previously talking to. You didn’t seem to think much about it. Maybe it was a small world, after all. “It was nice to see you again, (Y/N).”   
  
“You too, Josh.” You said with a smile. “Even if it was out of the ordinary.”   
  
Josh cracked a grin, you felt your heart beat  a little bit faster when he flashed those dimples that always seemed to get you. “Yeah, well, what can I say? I guess fate wanted us to be together again.”   
  
Sam cleared his throat rather loudly causing two pairs of eyes to be drawn towards his face. Your eyebrows furrowed in frustration. You kicked the man in the shin, but it didn’t seem to have fazed him one bit. He smiled at Josh and spoke up in a sarcastically happy tone. “See you later, Josh. Drive home safe.”   
  
Josh’s gaze lingered on you for a few moments before he turned around and finally headed towards the front door. When you saw that he was far enough away, you looked back at Sam. A frown stretched across your lips.   
  
“What the hell was that all about?” You demanded.   
  
Sam shrugged his shoulders, giving you an excuse that didn’t make up for his childish actions. “I don’t know. There’s just something about that guy. It doesn’t settle right with me.” He grumbled underneath his breath. He reached over to grab a fry from your plate. But you were quick to catch on, you  roughly slapped his hand away making your palm sting from the blow. “Ow!”   
  
“Between you and Dean’s behavior, I’m about to pull my hair out.” You said. Sam rolled his eyes, shaking his wounded hand You scoffed at how immature he could be. “One’s a lovesick puppy and the other one is acting like a pit bull in front of someone that I’ve known for years. Relax, Killer. He’s harmless. It’s not like he’s a serial killer who stalks his victims and I’m the next one on his list.”     
  
The youngest Winchester scoffed, keeping this thoughts to himself about Josh. He managed to grab a fry when you weren’t paying much attention. It wasn’t the fact that you had someone who liked you. The timing is what made his stomach twist into knots. The nightmare that he had about you included your friend, Josh. It was like the ones that he had about his old home, about Jess. Both of them came true. He couldn’t take it as a simple quiescence or blame it on the fast food that he had before bed. This nightmare ended like the other two.   
  
Let’s just say, it didn’t end well for you.   
  
\+ + +   
  
When the two of you finished up dinner, both of you went back towards the hotel to relax a bit before calling it a night. You decided to hang around the boys’ room for a bit longer. Sam went towards his beloved laptop and you curled up on the empty bed with another book that you found buried in your bag. You flipped through a few chapters before finding yourself letting out a few yawns when you tried to fight off the sleep that was beginning to creep through.   
  
You turned your gaze away from the next paragraph to look at the clock, it was almost going on midnight. It was obvious that Dean wasn’t coming back tonight. You grabbed your bookmark and closed the novel. Well, since he wasn’t going to be returning, you were going to steal his bed. You headed towards your own motel room and quickly changed into pajamas. You brushed your teeth and did your nightly routine before returning back towards the room down the hall.   
  
When you stepped inside the room, you were quick to notice the sounds of running water and the bathroom door closed. You slipped into the bed and rested your head on the pillow. It was another minute until Sam reappeared from the bathroom. He didn’t seem to care about you crashing him for the night when you saw him head towards the bed opposite of yours. It felt kind of nice to sleep in a bed for once and not some lumpy couch when you crashed with the boys, too bad it wasn’t going to ever happen again like this.   
  
“Night, Sam.” You called out, but your voice was muffled from the pillow.   
  
“Night, (Y/N).” He mumbled, his tone was laced with sleepiness.   
  
You turned over in bed and clicked off the light, allowing the darkness to swallow the room whole. You shifted around until you were in a comfortable position.  Tucking the covers towards your body, you closed your eyes and allowed yourself to fall asleep listening towards the sounds of Sam’s soft breathing and your resting heart rate as a soothing lullaby.   
  
\+ + +   
  
It started off innocent, let’s just put it like that.   
  
You were sitting in the motel room with your eyes concentrating on the laptop in front of you. Most of the afternoon was spent researching about the weak lead you had on about this mysterious black truck. But what else were you do to? The boys were off doing their own thing, leaving you here alone. Ten minutes passed before you heard the sounds of someone knocking on your door. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, wondering who it could be. When they knocked again and shouted your name, you recognize the voice as Josh’s.   
  
Putting the laptop down, you headed towards the door. You opened it up to see that he was standing right there in front of you. His blue eyes were gazed upon your face as his lips were stretched into a smirk. You opened your mouth to say something, but he cut you off by doing something you hadn’t expected from him.   
  
His hand reached out and grabbed you by the neck. You didn’t have time to react, thinking he was going to hurt you–but it was just the opposite. Those lips that you had thought about so many times, they were finally on yours. It was a few moments before the both of you came up for air, your eyes were widened with surprise at what was happening. You looked at the man, confusion written across your face.   
  
“What the hell was that for?” You managed to whisper out.   
  
“Isn’t this what you wanted?” He asked, another smirk spreading across his lips. Your eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. The man standing in front of you looked like Josh, but it didn’t sound like him. He sounded oddly like…Dean. You took a step backwards, he took a step forward. “The mind is a confusing thing, (Y/N). You think you know what you want. But maybe deep, deep down. You want something more. Something you know you can’t have.” He purred out.   
  
You nervously swallowed, shaking your head as you tried to get away from him. But it wasn’t working. He was cornering you like the pray you were. You gasped when you felt your backside brush against the wall. Your eyes jumped towards the blue ones that were observing your face. It was like he was trying to make out every little detail so he couldn’t forget it. You turned your head away to focus on something in the distance, you closed your eyes and hoped that he would disappear. But when you felt his lips hover over the crook of your neck, you felt a shiver run down your spine as his breath tickled your skin.   
  
“Just admit it, you’re confused.” He whispered so only you could hear. You couldn’t shake your head because if you did, you would feel the scuff brush against your skin and make you go insane for more. You needed to wake up before it got worse.   
  
“No, this is a dream.” You muttered to yourself. But before you could get yourself to that state, his hand wrapped around your chin and gently turned it so you were now looking at a very familiar set of green eyes. You noticed that his face was different. He wasn’t Josh anymore. It was Dean now. Your eyes drifted towards his lips, you watched as they got closer…and closer…until–   
  
You shot up in bed, clutching the sheets as you looked around the room. The rapid beating heart echoed in your ears as you tried to figure out where you were. Motel room. You were in the room with Sam because–Dean was with Cassie, his ex girlfriend. You ran your fingers through your hair and let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. As you began to remember the dream, confusion began to fill inside your mind. This was the second time you had it since you’ve been here. What the hell was happening to you?   
  
\+ + +   
  
You snuck out of the motel room before Sam even woke up. After showering and getting into a new change of clothes, you decided a change of scenery was something that would be good for you. The town was mostly quiet for early in the morning, a few people wandered around, mostly getting kids to school and others heading towards work.   
  
You found yourself heading into a coffee shop that was opened with a handful of customers lying around the place. A young man was standing behind the counter, you smiled and placed an order for you and Sam. While he was brewing up the coffee, you found yourself turning around and looking at the TV that was hooked up on the wall. The local news was on; an anchor stood outside on a road that seemed familiar to you with police cars and an ambulance in the background. It took you a few moments to realize what happened early this morning.   
  
MAYOR HAROLD TODD DEAD: POLICE ASSUME HIT AND RUN.   
  
It didn’t take you long to shove your hands inside your pocket and pull out your phone to call Sam and tell him the unexpected news.

\+ + +

Your nerves from earlier this morning and the coffee that you had downed on the way towards the crime scene was deemed as something good. You managed to get there before either of the boys decided to show up. When your eyes landed on an officer that was approaching you with a peculiar look, you shoved your hands inside your jacket pocket and pulled out your fake badge that you carried from time to time. Suddenly you were thankful that it was one of the days that you remembered. You flashed the badge at the man when both of you crossed paths. He observed it for a few moments before looking at you, a quizzical expression written across his face.

“Can you tell me what happened here or do you wanna take a picture?” You barked at the man. You could tell he was taken back by your tone of voice. You swallowed and opened your mouth to apologize. “Sorry. Didn’t get much sleep last night.”   
  
“You and I both. “ The officer muttered. You observed his face; you could see the prominent dark circles underneath his eyes and the bloodshot gaze he gave you. He must have noticed your own staring gaze. “Got an infant back home. All she does is cry at night. It’s keeping my wife and I awake. You have kids?”   
  
You shook your head. “No. Just a bad dream that’s been nagging me.” You said. It took you a few seconds to find your voice again when you saw the officer beginning to walk away towards the other side of the road. “I heard babies like the sounds of your voices and heartbeats. “ The officer turned around, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I was a fussy baby. My dad would always hold me for a while and just talk to me. Said it would always knock me out for the night.”   
  
“Smart man.” He noted, you felt a smile tug at the ends of your lips.   
  
“Was.” You muttered underneath your breath, but the cop didn’t seem to notice what you had said. “Now, do you mind telling me what happened to our Mayor?”   
  
You and the officer spent about five minutes discussing what happened before you heard the sound of footsteps pounding on the pavement. You turned your head to see that Sam finally listened to the five voicemails you left him. Looking a bit more into the distance, your eyes landed on Dean. You quickly turned away and tried to listen on the other details the officer was giving you.   
  
Just nod your head and smile, pretend everything's normal, you thought to yourself. This is your best friend. Nothing more, nothing less.   
  
“Where were you last night? You didn’t make it back to the motel.” Sam’s big mouth had to discuss the elephant in the room. You kept your cool, so far no heat was creeping up on your neck when you made eye contact with Dean for just a few seconds. But you couldn’t help yourself but see that he wasn’t even really here. You didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing yet. You shook your head and tried to get yourself back into the mindset of the case.   
  
“Nope.” Dean muttered, not taking much interest in what his brother was trying to get at. Your eyes trailed across to see the mayor’s dead body being rolled away on the gunnery.   
  
“I’m guessing you guys worked things out.” You sarcastically implied, bundling up your jacket as you looked at him from over your shoulder when all of you began to walk towards the scene of the hit and run.   
  
“We’ll be working out things when we’re ninety.” Dean said. You rolled your eyes and focused your gaze back towards the road to keep yourself from falling on the patches of snow that must have came last night. “So, what happened?”   
  
“Every bone crushed, internal organs turned into pudding.” You explained. “The cops are stumped. But it’s almost like something ran him over.”   
  
“Something like a truck?   
  
“Yep.”   
  
“Tracks?”   
  
“Nope.”   
  
“What was the Mayor doing here anyway?” Dean questioned.   
  
“He owned the property. Bought it a few weeks ago.” You answered.   
  
“Yeah, but he’s white. Doesn’t fit the patterns.” The oldest Winchester said, you shrugged your shoulders at his input.   
  
“Killings didn’t happen on this road.” Sam pointed out. “That doesn’t fit, either.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
You and Sam stayed behind in town to see what you could find on the mayor and the history of his new property. Dean split and spent the rest of the afternoon again with Cassie to see what they could find back in the newspaper database. You somehow managed to talk Sam out of doing research so you could spend some time doing it yourself. It had been a while since you spent a bit of alone time in front of a computer and aisles full of papers that needed your attention. And it kind of felt nice to be behind a computer, you had to admit. The experience brought you back towards the days, before you had joined the boys and got yourself into this mess.   
  
You let out a sharp sigh at your bad attitude that seemed to have since you laid eyes on Cassie, and the weird dream that you kept having about the oldest Winchester wasn’t helping. No, you didn’t seem him like that. He’s like your brother, for crying out loud! But yeah, sure. You had to admit that it was weird to see the man in a daze when he was around his old love. The person that acted like he was the lone survivor, the one that didn’t need anyone. Suddenly he was turning into a lovesick puppy, following around the woman that somehow manage to get him on a leash and didn’t have to try so hard.   
  
Maybe your hostility towards her was because of all your attempts at trying to get closer towards the man like you were with his brother. You and Sam were close for the most part, you and him told one another almost everything. But Dean…he was like a code that you were desperate to crack. And you weren’t about to give up with everything going on. All three of you needed one another to get through this tough time before everything would go back to normal.   
  
You blinked when you found yourself staring at a couple from across the courtroom. They must have been getting their marriage license from their body language. Holding hands while the woman tried to quiet her giggles while the man whispered something in her ear that made the laughter come out again. You shook your head and focused back on the computer screen.   
  
Screw romance, you had other things to worry about.   
  
You spent an hour in the courthouse digging through information and jotting it down in the notebook that you carried around for research. When you got enough, you headed outside and pulled your jacket tighter when you felt a breeze touch your skin. For it being spring, this town had odd weather patterns you weren’t taking very kindly towards.   
  
When you stepped down towards the sidewalk and began walking back towards the motel, you heard someone shouting your name and heavy footsteps stomping from behind you. You turned around to see that Sam was jogging towards, but all you could focus on was the two paper cups that he held in his grip. You immediately grabbed it when he was close enough and pressed it towards your lips, ignoring the protests that it was still hot. You didn’t care. Your caffeine buzz from this morning was slowly going down, making you feel as if you were about to crash.   
  
“Find anything useful?” Sam asked, eying you from time to time after you came up for air.   
  
You nodded your head, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. “Something useful, at least. I was just about to call Dean. Hold this.” You shoved your cup into Sam’s hand, he managed to grab it before it could fall on the floor from your sudden request. You pulled out your phone from your pocket and flipped it open. Punching Dean’s number, you pressed the phone towards your ear and waited for him to answer.   
  
“Yeah?” God, even the sound of his voice made you roll your eyes.   
  
“Okay, the courthouse records show that Mr. and Mrs. Mayor bought an abandoned property. The previous owner was the Dorian family, for like a hundred and fifty years.” You explained, opening up your book to read off the information that you had jotted down. As you began to walk out of habit, Sam followed behind.   
  
“Dorian?” Dean repeated.   
  
“Yeah.”   
  
You heard the phone shifted and Dean whisper something to Cassie that you barely could hear. “Didn’t you say the Dorian family used to own the paper?” Followed by a few seconds of silence that was mostly filled up with clicks from the mouse and keyboard. You tapped your foot against the pavement, waiting ever so patiently for them to find something useful. “That’s interesting.” Dean said after another moment of silence.   
  
“What?” You asked.   
  
“This Cyrus Dorian, he vanished in April of sixty-three. The case was investigated but never solved. It was the time of the string of murders that was going on back then.” Dean explained. You flipped through your notebook and found what you had looked at from earlier.   
  
“Well, I pulled up a bunch of papers on the Dorian place. It must have been on bad shape when the Mayor bought it.” You said.   
  
“Why is that?” Dean curiously asked.   
  
“The first thing that he did was bulldoze the place.” And it seemed that people weren’t too happy with the idea from the articles you read on it. Even the clerk that helped you put her two cents on the move.   
  
The phone shifted again as you heard the sounds of hushed voices before Dean spoke up again. “You got a date?”   
  
“Uh…the third of last month.” You read off from your notes.   
  
You heard the sounds of keyboard clicks again. “Mayor Todd bulldozed the Dorian family home on the third. The first killing was the very next day.” Your brows furrowed together as your eyes jumped towards Sam. It looks like all of you had found a trail to go on, after all.   
  
\+ + +   
  
All of you reconvened back towards the motel to try and figure out how the Dorian family was connected towards the killings. You spent most of your time running from the room towards the sketchy check in to grab more coffee to keep yourself awake. The routine was beginning to annoy you, but it was better than sleeping and having to face that dream again. Especially with Dean’s presence in the back in the room.   
  
You wiggled your foot rapidly when you felt the jitters from the third cup of coffee in the past few hours finally begin to take a toll on your body. You didn’t seem to notice his green eyes that kept jumping towards your feet, anger slowly rising in the room. When you reached for the paper cup that was filled with the cold coffee that you almost forgot about, his voice made you jump in fright. You had gotten so used to the silence, it felt weird to hear him speak up for once towards you.   
  
“Aren’t you going a little overboard?”   
  
You looked up from the notes that you had taken from earlier, your face scrunched up in confusion at what he was trying to get. When you saw his eyes were locked on the cup, you shrugged your shoulders and downed the drink in one gulp and put it back towards the nightstand.   
  
“Speak for yourself.” You muttered underneath your breath, pressing your pen back up towards your lips. You didn’t think he would hear you, let alone try and get an explanation out of it. But when his voice suddenly raised with tension, you were quick to notice.   
  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dean grunted out. Your gaze trailed up from your handwriting to see that his brows were knitted together, his eyes were locked on your face. You let out a soft breath and rolled your eyes.   
  
Where was Sam? You were beginning to become annoyed with your request to get you a new caffeine fix if it was going to lead into an argument with the other brother that you weren’t prepared for. You closed your notebook and got up from the bed that you had been sitting on for the past few hours.   
  
You needed air. You needed to get out here before you said something you would regret. But Dean had other plans, he wanted more from you. Arguing with you was like poking a stick at a rapid dog with a loose leash. He was going to get more than just a bite from you.   
  
“Hey, I’m not done talking to you!”   
  
You stopped in your tracks and turned around to look at the man, your face stretched into a shocked expression at the tone of voice that he was using on you. He was now standing like yourself. You took notice of the glare that he used on you or Sam when he was angry. His green eyes were wide, his nostrils were flaring. You couldn’t help yourself but roll your eyes and scoff at how immature he was being. Maybe you were yourself, but you wouldn’t admit at this point. You were too much on edge to say anything except for the words that you would regret later on in the night.   
  
“Well? What have you got to say to me, hot shot?” You snapped at him. You crossed your arms over your chest and raised a brow, watching as he just continued to stand there. You waited…and waited…but nothing seemed to have come out.   
  
“Shocking. You’re keeping everything to yourself until you to talk to Cassie.” You said her name an obnoxiously high-pitched tone.“Since she opened up her legs for you on more than one occasion, I guess it’s obvious you would feel comfortable to open up your heart to her.”   
  
“You’re such a little brat.” He hissed at you. “Grow up.”   
  
“At least I’m not an idiot like you!” You retorted back. “The one who thinks sex solves everything and doesn’t like to settle down on more than one chick. What makes her so special?”   
  
“Jesus Christ. Stop acting like a prude!”   
  
“Stop thinking with the wrong head!”   
  
“Get your head out of your ass.”   
  
“Keep it up and I’ll shove my foot up yours.”   
  
“Hey guys, I’m back—” Sam had stepped inside the motel room at the wrong time. But his presence wasn’t quite noticed as the two of you kept going at it like children, just wanting to be the one with the last word in this argument.   
  
“You’re such a bitch!” Dean yelled at you. A bitter laugh escaped your throat when he called you that kind of name. Never in your life did you hear him use that term in you, but you found it amusing to see him do it. “Stop acting like you’re better than everyone!”   
  
“Well, stop acting like an asshole! It’s not my fault you’re desperately throwing yourself at someone who doesn’t even love you anymore!” You hissed in an icy tone. “She obviously is just using you.”   
  
You didn’t realize you two were about to brush noses from taking steps forward while arguing until you felt Sam’s grip on your shirt, making you being yanked backwards. You roughly hit his chest from the impact. You let out a breath, feeling your body calm down from the rush of adrenaline that began to pump through your veins.   
  
You stared at Dean, waiting to see what he was going to respond with. You expected it to be something on the lines of mean or sarcastic like he always did. But what he said made your blood boil even more from the anger that you were already feeling towards him. He was quick to change his attitude from defensive towards arrogant in just a few seconds flat.   
  
Dean looked at you with an amused expression, the ends of his lips twitched into a smirk you desperately wanted to smack right off. But with Sam’s steel grip still on you, you barely could move an inch. “Sounds to me like someone’s a little jealous, sweetheart.” He amused himself, changing his tone towards a casual one, acting as if the screaming match never happened.   
  
“Bite me.” You hissed, rolling your eyes at his arrogant behavior.   
  
“Okay, will someone tell me what the hell is going on here?” Sam blurted out, butting his way into the conversation before either one of you said anymore worse things. You remained silent, looking at the other Winchester to see what he would say, but he mocked your behavior like a child.   
  
You let a scoff roll out of your mouth as you yanked yourself out of Sam’s grip. You walked back over towards the bed and dropped yourself down onto it, turning your back towards the brothers. If Dean wanted to get something more out of you like he typically did, you weren’t going to let him. All you wanted to do was pretend that this never happened and just curl up into bed again. Suddenly the thought of sleeping wasn’t such a bad idea after all. But what happened next wasn’t going to get you anywhere near it.   
  
The room was silent for almost ten minutes before the sounds of Dean’s cell phone began to ring. You looked over your shoulder and gave him a look, watching as he just sat there and continued to let it annoy you like he wanted. You grunted and looked down at your notebook. But after the fourth ring, you were about to throw the book against the wall. You frowned and turned your head again when you locked eyes with him.   
  
“Answer it. It might be your little girlfriend.” You muttered underneath your breath, a sarcastic tone to match your mood.   
  
You heard the sound of him rustling around in his jacket pocket and the sounds of the ringing finally stop. He answered it in a quiet tone, trying not to sound happy to hear from Cassie. You looked over again to see the look on his face, expecting it to be a dazed expression, but what you saw made your entire mood change into something different. Dean looked like a deer in headlights; his eyes were growing wide with fear as he suddenly tried to calm down the hysterical woman on the other line. It took a few moments, but he finally shut his phone and looked at his brother.   
  
“That was Cassie. She saw the truck outside of her house.” Dean explained. He shot up from his chair that he was previously sitting on and grabbed his jacket, quickly shoving his arms into the holes.   
  
“Wait, that makes no sense. Why would it be—” You tried to put your input in, but Dean wasn’t in the mood.   
  
“Goddamn it, does it matter right now?” Dean asked in a low tone. “Are you coming or not?”   
  
You rolled your eyes. No matter what you or him said to one another, both of you always managed to get yourselves focused on getting the job done. You got up from the bed and reached for your coat. “Yes, mother.” You said in a childlike tone and followed behind the brothers to load into the car.   
  
\+ + +   
  
When all of you got to the Robinson household where you were greeted towards a distraught Cassie. Her mother looked like she was on the verge of a mental break down. You decided to let the brothers try and calm them down as you slipped yourself into the kitchen to make the women some tea.   
  
It took a while to figure out where everything was, but in the matter of minutes you managed to find a box of tea bags and set the kettle onto the stove. You let the kettle sit until the water turned into a boiling temperature. You made two cups of tea and headed back towards the living room where you saw Mrs. Robinson sitting by herself in the chair and Cassie huddling next to Dean. You gave her mother the first cup of tea, she weakly smiled before focusing her attention towards something in the distance.   
  
You grabbed another cup and headed over towards Cassie, bending down so she could take the tea cup into her own grip. “Maybe you could throw a couple of shots in that.” She murmured, looking up at you.   
  
“Well, I’m told I make a pretty mean cup of Irish coffee. But let’s save that for another night.” You joked, smiling at her. She managed a small one before you walked over and leaned yourself against desk that was in the middle of the brothers.   
  
“You didn’t see who was driving the truck?” Dean asked, looking at Cassie.   
  
She shrugged her shoulders, it seemed that she didn’t know exactly what she saw. “It seemed to be no one.” She admitted. Cassie kept herself quiet for a few moments. Everything that happened to her was still sinking in. “Everything was moving so fast. And then it was just gone. Why didn’t it kill us?”   
  
“Whatever is controlling the truck wants you afraid first.” Dean explained. You shifted around in your spot, drawing your eyes from the floor towards the woman that was sitting in the chair from across you.   
  
“Mrs. Robinson, Cassie said that your husband saw the truck before he died.” You said. The woman looked at you with wide eyes, you must have caught her off guard. She was quiet, not saying anything.   
  
“Mom?” Cassie asked in a quiet tone.   
  
“Well, after tonight I think we can be reasonably sure that he was seeing a truck.” Dean spoke to Cassie’s mother in a tone of voice that you didn’t think was quite appropriate. You hissed his name, but he didn’t seem to listen towards your warning as he continued to scare the poor woman. “What happened tonight, you and Cassie are marked, okay? Your daughter could die, so if you know something, now would be a really good time to tell us about it.”   
  
“Dean—” Cassie tried herself to calm down the man, but her mother cut her off.   
  
“Yes.” You turned your head to Mrs. Robinson. She pressed a hand towards her face and rubbed it, a sigh escaped her lips. “ Yes, he said he saw the truck.”   
  
“Did he know who it belonged to?” Sam asked.   
  
“He thought he did.” Mrs. Robinson muttered.   
  
Your brows furrowed at her answer. “Who was that?”   
  
Mrs. Robinson closed her eyes. “Cyrus…A man named Cyrus” You quickly turned your head to look at the brothers, the answer shocked all three of you. You watched as Dean reached for his jacket that he shoved in between the cushion and his body. He dug through the pockets until he pulled out the newspaper article he found while discussing the torn down house.   
  
Dean opened up the papers and flashed the article towards the woman, Cyrus’s picture towards her. “Is this Cyrus?” He questioned.   
  
“Cyrus Dorian died more than forty years ago.” Mrs. Robinson said, never looking at Dean straight in the eye.   
  
Dean looked down at the article, his face scrunched up in confusion. He looked up at the woman again. “How do you know he died, Mrs. Robinson?” He asked. But she wouldn’t answer, so he pressed harder. “The paper said he went missing. How did you know he died?”   
  
“We were all very young.” Mrs. Robinson began to explain. She sucked in a breath and continued the story. “I dated Cyrus for a while. I was also seeing Martin, in secret of course ‘cause interracial couples didn’t go over too well back then. When I broke it off with Cyrus, and when he found out about Martin—I don’t know—he changed. His hatred…his hatred was frightening.”   
  
“The string of murders.” Sam whispered, you broke your eyes away from the woman to look at him for a few moments before she began to speak up again.   
  
“There were rumors, people of color disappearing into some kind of truck. Nothing was ever done.” You felt your nails press into your palm, the story that Mrs. Robinson explained to all four of you could make anyone’s skin crawl off the bones. She sighed and continued to speak after taking a moment to compose herself. “Martin and…Martin and I were gonna be married in that little church near here, but last minute, we decided to elope ‘because we didn’t want all the attention.”   
  
“And Cyrus?” Dean wondered where he fit into this.   
  
Mrs. Robinson quietly sobbed, she shook her head as she continued speaking. “The day we set for the wedding was the day that someone set fire to the church.” Her voice cracked as another sob escaped her throat. “There was a children’s choir practicing in there. They all died.”   
  
You shook your head, you have seen and heard a lot of things. But you will always be surprised at what humans were capable of and the monstrous things they do out of their own greed to make a point that would cause more harm than good. Just thinking of those poor children, it made you feel sick to your stomach.   
  
“Did the attacks stop after that?” You couldn’t help yourself but ask the painful question that burned on the tip of your tongue before it just spilled out on its own.   
  
“No, there was one more.” Mrs. Robinson said between her sobs. “One night the truck came for Martin. Cyrus beat him something terrible, but Martin—you see, Martin got loose and he started hitting Cyrus and he just kept hitting him and hitting him.” It was another pause, seeing her sob over her deceased husband made your heart ache. The poor woman couldn’t seem to get herself together, but you couldn’t blame her.   
  
“Why didn’t you call the cops?” Dean asked, you shot him a look.   
  
Mrs. Robinson stared at Dean, did he not realize that things back then weren’t as justified as they were now. “This was forty years ago.” She snapped at him. Dean realized his mistake, he looked away and dropped his gaze somewhere else. “He called on his friends—Clayton, Solmes and Jimmy Anderson—and they put Cyrus’s body into the truck and then rolled it into the swamp at the edge of his land and the three of them kept that secret all these years.”   
  
“And now all three of them are gone.” You noted, shaking your head.   
  
“So is Mayor Todd.” Dean added. He turned his attention towards the woman that was trying to calm herself down. “Now, he said that you of all people would know that he is not a racist. Why would he say that?”   
  
“He was a good man. He was a young deputy back then, investigating Cyrus’s disappearance. Once he figured out what Martin and the others have done, he…” Mrs. Robinson sighed. “He did nothing. Because he also knew what Cyrus had done.”   
  
Cassie, who had been staying quiet this entire time while her mother explained everything, suddenly spoke up with anger in her voice. She looked at her mother with furious eyes. “Why did you tell me?”   
  
“I thought I was protecting them.” Mrs. Robinson admitted, she shook her head as another violent sob escaped her throat. “And now there’s no one left to protect.”   
  
“Yes, there is.” You said, your eyes dropping towards Cassie. You flashed her a small smile, watching as she returned it before reaching out and wrapping her hands into her mother's.   
  
\+ + +   
  
You and the boys headed out of the house and went back towards the Impala, you shoved your hands inside your jacket pocket. You leaned yourself against the car and observed the nighttime sky. There were so many little stars that could be seen, it made you remember the nights when you were younger when you would lay out in your backyard and spend hours just staring at them…wishing that things could be different.   
  
“Oh, my life was so simple.” You turned your head to look at Sam when he began speaking. “Just school, exams, papers on polycentric cultural norms.”   
  
“You and me both, buddy.” You said, smiling at the memories of high school. “The all nighters. Stressing about midterms and worrying about the future. Instead it turned into research and more research…” Your eyes over at Dean, trying to make him reminisce on the good old days. You could see a small smile tug on the ends of his lips.   
  
“So I guess I saved you both from a boring existence.” Dean commented. You and Sam softly chuckled.   
  
“Occasionally I miss boring.” Sam admitted, quietly sighing to himself.   
  
“So, this killer truck…” You tried to change the subject.   
  
“I miss conversations that didn’t start with ‘this killer truck.’” Sam muttered, laughing a bit. You rolled your eyes and playfully shoved him.   
  
“Alrighty, well, this Cyrus guy,” Dean corrected you, a smile of his own spread across his lips. “Evil on a level that infected even his truck. When he died, the swamp became his tomb and his spirit was dormant for forty years.”   
  
“So, what woke it up?” Sam wondered. his tone quiet.   
  
“The construction on his house or the destruction.” Dean explained, Sam nodded his head.   
  
“Right. Demolition or remodeling can awaken spirits, make them restless. Like that theatre in Illinois.” Sam noted. You and Dean agreed with a nod.   
  
“Yeah. And the guy who tears down the family homestead, Harold Todd, is the same guy that kept Cyrus’s murder quiet and unsolved.” Dean explained.   
  
“So now his spirit is awakened and out for blood.” You murmured.   
  
“I guess. Who knows what ghosts are thinking anyway.” Dean said   
  
“You know we’re gonna have to dredge that body from the swamp? Man.” Sam muttered, looking at you and Dean. Your nose scrunched up at the thought of having to deal with that. The smell that was going to be rolling off from his rotting corpse and the swamp wasn’t something you wanted to be thinking about right now.”   
  
“You said it.” You said, giving him a look. He rolled his eyes and nodded his head.   
  
When you heard a familiar voice ring inside your ears, you turned your head to see that Cassie was approaching the three of you. Her focus was on Dean when he took a step forward, you turned your head and focused on something else. But you couldn’t keep yourself from dropping into their conversation.   
  
“She’s asleep. Now what?” Cassie asked.   
  
“You stay put and look after her. And we’ll be back. Don’t leave the house.” Dean instructed.   
  
“Don’t go all authoritative on me. I hate it.” You couldn’t help yourself but chuckle when you turned back and looked at the couple. Dean changed his tone, making it seem more sincere than usual.   
  
“Don’t go leaving the house, please?   
  
You watched as the little lovebirds leaned down and locked their lips into a kiss. You looked away, feeling an awkward void begin to fill inside of you. Rubbing the back of your neck, you cleared your throat rather loudly and directed your attention back towards them for just a moment. Dean pointed his index finger at you not even stopping to yell at you. You and Sam laughed at his ways and shook your head.   
  
“Are you coming or what, loverboy?” You teased. You pulled out the keys to the Impala from your pocket and jingled at him. Your lips stretched into a grin when Dean stopped his actions so he could turn around and inspect the noise. His eyes went wide at what he saw.   
  
“How did you get them?” He questioned you.   
  
You simply shrugged your shoulders. “I’m picking up on a lot of bad habits from you boys. Now, kiss the pretty girl goodbye and get your ass in the car before I leave you here. We’ve some serious work to do.”

\+ + +

Standing next to Sam, you had your hands shoved inside your pockets as one of the ways to keep yourself from becoming frozen from the soft wind that kept brushing your naked skin. Dean sat on the tractor that would be used to pull the truck out of the swampy water. How they managed to find it in the dark was something you can’t didn’t care to know the answer for. All you wanted to do was sit inside the car and blast the heat so you could feel the warmth inside your fingers again.   
  
“All right, let’s get her up.” Sam instructed towards his brother. Just a few moments later, you heard the sounds of the tractor engine grunting as it began to pull up the truck farther and farther from the swamp until it was almost on top of the hill that you stood upon. “All right. Little more. Little more.” Sam kept moving his arm forward as Dean kept pulling the truck until you saw it completely. It was all rusted and dripping with water, something you had expected to see from the forty years that it sat down there. “All right. Stop.”   
  
You and Sam headed over towards the other brother when he stopped, letting the truck sit at the edge of the hill with the long chain keeping it suspended in the spot so it wouldn’t fall. Dean jumped off the tractor and looked over at the truck. “Nice.” He mumbled to himself, obviously proud of his own work.   
  
You couldn’t help yourself but roll your eyes, heading over towards the trunk where the supplies that you needed to get the job done laid. The brothers followed behind, but not as quick as you. Boys and their toys, you thought to yourself. One of the many things that would distract themselves from seeing the bigger picture.   
  
“Now I know what she sees in you.” You said, a hint of playfulness in your voice.   
  
“What?” Dean turned his head to look at you, his brows furrowed in confusion as he passed you to get towards the trunk. You rolled your eyes again, as you leaned yourself against the side of the car.   
  
“Come on, you can admit it.” You egged him on. “You’re still in love with her.”   
  
“Can we focus, please?” He muttered, popping open the trunk as he leaned down to grab the salt and gasoline. “Besides, this attitude of yours is giving me whiplash.”   
  
“I’m just saying, Dean.” You said. But your last words were cut off with a grunt when you felt the heavy canister being shoved inside your arms without a warning.   
  
“Hold that.” The oldest Winchester instructed, giving you a bit of a delayed warning.   
  
“All right. What am I getting?” Sam’s voice broke your concentration from the other brother. You turned your head to see his tall frame lingering over yours, waiting to see where his abilities needed to be placed.   
  
“Gas. Flashlight.” Dean began listing off materials all of you still needed to get. Sam headed over and grabbed the supplies, tucking them into his sides. “”Got it. Got it.”   
  
“All right, let’s get this done.” You said, shifting the weight of the container in your arms to keep it from slipping and falling towards the ground.   
  
The three of you headed back towards the truck with the supplies in your hand and the flashlight to guide you towards the rusted piece of crap. You only had a few experiences with dead bodies that weren’t six feet underneath the ground and in a coffin. The smell of rotting corpse wasn’t your favorite, but it was better than having to bury someone else at the cost of letting this spirit live and take another victim. So you sucked in a deep breath and pressed a palm towards your nose when Dean finally opened up the driver’s side door.   
  
A horrifying smell of swamp water and corpse tickled your nose when Cyrus’s decomposed skeleton leaned out. You groaned and turned your head away, coughing at the smell that you couldn’t avoid.   
  
“All right, let’s get to it.” Dean said, eyeing the skeleton for just a few moments.   
  
You took a few a few steps back so the boys could take out the body and place him on a nearby pile of debris so they could burn his corpse. Sam poured the gasoline from head to toe while Dean made sure to top off the body with the salt. You struck the tip of the match against the side of the box and watched as a small flame ignited. You threw the match into the body and watched as the fire grew towards a bigger proportion.   
  
You heard Sam sigh to himself while he looked at the body. “Think that’ll do it?”   
  
But before either of you could answer, your attention was ripped away from the burning corpse to see where the sounds of a roaring engine was coming from. The headlights from the truck turned on as the gas pedal was being pressed a few times. It was as if it was trying to intimidate the three of you for what you had done towards its driver.   
  
“I guess not. ” Dean muttered.   
  
“So burning the body had no effect on that thing?” You asked, pointing at the truck that sat just a few yards away. But it looked like it was getting ready to charge at one of your at any given second.   
  
“Sure it did. Now it’s really pissed off.” The oldest Winchester remarked. Suddenly the idea of slapping the boy upside the head didn’t seem like such a bad thought anymore.   
  
“But Cyrus’s ghost is gone, right, Dean?” You snapped at him, ripping your attention away from the truck again as you looked at him.   
  
“Apparently not the part that’s fused with the truck.” He explained, or lack of one.   
  
Okay. You were all about to become road kill from a truck that’s still seeking revenge. And it looks like you pissed it off enough to be added towards the list. What the hell were all of you going to do?   
  
The boys looked like a deer in headlights and you were shaking with the idea of becoming apart of the earth that you weren’t so pleased with. You turned your head towards the Impala. An idea struck itself inside your mind when you noticed the headlights were still on. Suddenly you knew what to do.   
  
You quickly turned around and ran towards the Impala, praying that the keys were still in the ignition. And maybe the fact that your legs could go just a bit faster before either of the boys could notice that you were gone. You winched when you heard Sam’s voice ring inside your ears. You were so close.   
  
“Where are you going?” Sam called out, panic rising in his voice.   
  
“Going for a little ride. I’m gonna lead this thing away.” You said, ripping open the driver’s side door. Dean wasn’t too pleased with the idea of what you were doing, but you didn’t care. You knew he was gonna strangle you for taking a little spin when he got his hands on you. But that was if all three of you were going to live in order to see that as a possibility. “That rusted piece of crap, you guys need to burn it.”   
  
“How the hell are we supposed to burn a trick, (Y/N)?” Sam questioned your idea, you rolled your eyes at his ignorance. The boy was smart, he’ll make a plan.   
  
“I don’t know. Figure something out!” You yelled, turning on the engine when you saw the truck slowly start driving towards you.   
  
Shifting the car into reverse, you slammed your foot on the gas and hoped that this plan would go towards your liking. The engine purred inside your ears, you were surprised you could hear anything from the sounds of your heartbeat pounding inside your ears. You managed to swing the car around into a proper driving gear as you sped off towards the winding road that you took in order to get here.   
  
You stepped on the gas pedal when you glanced towards the rear view mirror to see that the truck was slowly coming forwards, closer than you were comfortable with. You needed to figure out how to get this thing off your ass and fast. Placing one hand on the wheel, you shoved the other inside your jacket pocket and took out your cell phone, all while trying to keep the car from swerving off the road. You punched in Sam’s number and pressed the phone towards your ear.   
  
“Hey, you gotta give me a minute.” Sam answered after two rings, you grunted out in annoyance from the lack of the plan that you had hoped the boys would have figured out by now.   
  
“I don’t have a minute! What are we doing?!” You yelled, glancing back towards the mirror to take a peak. The truck was now just a foot away from you. You pressed your foot harder on the gas and sucked in a breath.   
  
“Um…let me get back to you.” Sam said, acting as if the entire situation wasn’t life or death. You hit the end button and slammed your phone against the passenger’s seat.   
  
It was a long few moments of driving and concentrating on the road. When you heard your phone ring, suddenly you were regretting the move of throwing your phone across the car. You managed to lean over for just a second and grabbed it. You let out a breath and answered your phone.   
  
“Alright, (Y/N).” Sam was on the other line, but you could hear Dean muttering something towards his brother. They must have had the phone on speaker.   
  
“This better be good!” You hissed at them.   
  
“Where are you?” Dean asked, speaking up for the first time over the phone.   
  
“I’m in the middle of nowhere with a killer truck on my ass!” You remarked. Suddenly the idea wasn’t a good one when the idea of getting into a fatal car accident crossed your mind. “It’s like it knows I put the torch to Cyrus!”   
  
“(Y/N), listen to me. It’s important. I have to know exactly where you are.” Sam said, his gone of voice wasn’t much like yours. You hated how he could be calm in these types of situations. Of course, he sandy the one being hunted.   
  
You glanced out of the window to see a road sign. “Decatur road, about two miles off the highway.” You read before focusing your attention back on the road.   
  
“Okay, headed east?” Sam asked.   
  
“Yes!” You hissed out in annoyance. But the next thing that came out of your mouth was a gasp from the sudden collision towards the back of the car. The truck hit the back of the Impala causing you to lose control of the car for just a few moments. You managed to get it back to normal before you could swerve. “Oh, you son of a bitch!”   
  
“What happened? Did something happen to my—”   
  
“Dean!” You heard the other brother mutter something before giving you instructions. “Okay, uh, turn right.” You swerved the car towards the direction when you saw a small dirt path come into view. Glancing up, you noticed that the truck was still following you. “You make the turn?”   
  
“Yes. I made the turn!” You yelled. “Move this thing along a little faster!”   
  
“All right, you see a road up ahead?” Sam asked, your brows furrowed at his question.   
  
“No!” You said, turning your head took outside. But you saw an opening not too far ahead. “Wait, yes, I see it!”   
  
“Okay, turn left?” Sam instructed you.   
  
“What?!” You practically screamed. It was going to be rather impossible with the truck right next to you. But before you could question this any further, you jerked the steering wheel towards the left side and began to driven down the path. “All right, now what?”   
  
“You needed to go exactly 7/10th of a mile and stop.” Sam explained.   
  
“Stop?” You asked, confusion rising in your voice.   
  
“Exactly 7/10ths, (Y/N).” He repeated. You glanced down at the dashboard to see the mileage reader was slowly moving up.   
  
Three…Four…Five….Six….Seven…Eight…   
  
As you slowly reached for ten, you slammed your feet against the breaks causing the circle to do a half circle, sending you turn around into the direction that you had just came from. All of you heard was the sounds of the engine running and the smell of burnt tires faintly linger in the air. You drove up a few feet and stopped, wondering what was going to happen next. It only took you a few seconds to get your answer.   
  
The familiar set of headlights could be seen in the downside as the truck’ engine rang inside your ears. You froze in fear.   
  
“(Y/N), you still there?”   
  
“Yeah.” You manage to mumble out, almost forgetting about the boys on the other line.   
  
“What’s happening?” Sam asked you.   
  
“It’s just staring at me. What do I do?” You questioned, your grip on the wheel tightening.   
  
“Just what you are doing—bringing it to you.”   
  
You were going to kill these boys when you got your hands on them, either dead or alive. You dropped your phone back down when nobody else began to speak. If you were going to take this thing down, you needed to do this alone. You placed both hands on the wheel and looked at the truck. Anger slowly began to rise in your body. If this piece of junk wanted a fight, you were going to give it one hell of a fight.   
  
The truck began to come at you now, slowly it began to grow from a small thing in the distance towards a towering monster over you. You ache in a breath and gripped the wheel tighter when it was just a few feet from you now.   
  
“Come on. Come on.” You changed out. “Bring it you piece of junk!”   
  
Suddenly when it was dangerously close, all the adrenaline you had pumping through your vines vanished. You flinched and turned away, bracing for the impact that you expected to hit the front car. When you counted down from thirty, you peaked out to see what was happening. What you saw around you wasn’t a truck, in fact, you didn’t see anything. You quickly picked up your phone when you heard the boys call out your name.   
  
“Where did it go?” You asked out on a rushed tone.   
  
“(Y/N), you’re where the church was.”   
  
Your face scrunched up in confusion. “What church?” “The place where Cyrus burned down and murdered all those kids.” Sam explained. You looked around to see there wasn’t much evidence towards the past crime. Maybe a few pieces of wood still stuck in the dirt, but you couldn’t examine much of anything else.   
  
“There’s not a whole lot left.” You noted.   
  
“Church ground is hallowed ground. Weather the church is still there or not. Evil spirits cross over hallowed ground, sometimes they’re destroyed.” Dean spoke up again, giving you some important information. “So, we figured maybe that would get rid of it.”   
  
“Maybe?!” You hissed through the phone, anger rising in your body when you realized of this fatal move. “What if you idiots were wrong?!”   
  
“Huh.” Dean remarked, huffing out a breath. His tone of voice was nonchalant. “Honestly, that thought didn’t occur to me.”   
  
You were beyond pissed. You closed your phone and shoved it back into your pocket. Yes, you were going to murder him when you got your hands on him. Many you could chase him with this goddamn car and make him fear for his own life until he knew how you felt at that moment. Karma, you thought to yourself. It was only fair.   
  
“‘Well, the thought didn’t occur to me.’” You mocked his voice, rolling your eyes. You slammed your hands on the wheel and let out a breath. “I’m gonna kill him. I’m gonna freaking kill him.”   
  
You slammed your foot against the gas and drove off, but not in their direction. The night was clear and the motel wasn’t too far away. Maybe the cold air would do them good at realizing how stupid they were for putting your life in danger like that. You let out another sigh and leaned back into the driver’s seat. Another job done.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The next morning you sat in the backseat of the Impala while Sam sat in the driver’s side. Dean was outside, walking around with Cassie, trying to find a way to say their final goodbyes. You weren’t paying much attention. You knew it was an emotional moment for the both of them, and it was only fair that they were allowed to have their privacy. Because after all, this might be the only time that they could be with one another for a while, even if they found a way to make their different lifestyles work.   
  
When your heard the passenger door open, you ripped your gaze away from the thread at the bottom of your shirt. Dean was quiet. You knew better than to press, he want the type to get emotional over this. But these past few days werea learning experience. You had been taught quite a few things about him, and even yourself.   
  
The engine kicked in and Cassie waved goodbye at the three of you before stepping back as the car began to drive off. You leaned back into the seat and let out a breath. It a strange kind of way, you were going to miss her. Maybe it was because she made Dean happy. And that was something you haven’t seen from him in such a long time.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“I like her.”   
  
You spoke up, breaking the silence that had been filling up the car for too long. Dean didn’t seem too interested in what you had to say when he still stared out the window. His tone of voice was flat.   
  
“Yeah.”   
  
So, you tried again. “You meet someone like her, ever make you wonder if it’s worth it—putting everything on hold, doing what we do?”   
  
Dean turned around, looking at you for a few moments, a smile tugged at the ends of his lips. He didn’t respond, but you could tell what the answer was. He leaned over and grabbed his glasses from the dashboard.   
  
“Why don’t you wake me up when it’s my turn to drive?” He asked his brother. “And don’t even think of letting (Y/N) behind the wheel. She’s given me enough of a headache.”   
  
You rolled your eyes when he leaned back in his seat and adjusted so he was comfortable so he could get a few hours of sleep. It would be so easy to just pull a quick prank on him to get your frustrations out. But you decided against it. You let out a yawn as you decided on the idea of sleeping wasn’t such a bad one. Maybe not being in charge of driving wasn’t such a bad idea, after all.   
  


 

 


	13. Nightmare.

Warmth. That was one of the first things you could make out in the nightmare. The next one was the sounds of screams of terror that pierced your ears, making a sick feeling inside your stomach. You recognized then as your parents and two other females ones that you thought could be Mary and Jess’s. You opened up your eyes to see that you were outside of the old Winchester house, standing on your lawn like you were two years old again–but it was as if it was happening in present day. You just watched the house burn down with nobody else around, you knew that you could do something to save them. If you just opened up your mouth and screamed for help…

But you just stood there, gawking at the burning house like it was a freakshow attraction. Slowly, the guilt changed into something more. Something that you could describe as a fascination at what was happening right before your eyes. You just stared at the fire, watching as it grew and grew. Soon their screams came nothing more than just a full dining in your ears. That’s all you could remember right before you managed to get yourself awake.

You woke up in the motel bed covered in a thin layer of sweat, your breathing coming out in heavy pants from the fear that ran through your body. Your fingers ran through your damp hair as you tried to figure out what the dream was about. Sure, you had nightmares before about your mother’s gruesome death and other things that started after you began helping the boys. But never did you have dreams about the fire, and feel never this real. And never did you like watching them burn alive, you shuddered when you recollected in the screams that still echoed.

There was so many different details you learned about that night from the brothers and police reports you found, well broke into the computer system with a help of an old friend. You were only two years old at the time when it happened. The night was as hazy as the time your father passed away. You only remembered what people told you, or what you chose to remember.

Glancing over towards the nightstand, the time read just a little after two in the morning. You had crashed around nine after grabbing a late dinner with the boys at the local diner. Six hours of sleep was better than nothing. Besides, your nerves were too wired up to even think about putting your head back on the pillow and try to catch some sleep before dawn. And you couldn’t bug the boys at this hour. They needed the sleep from switching driving turns over the past few days of spending the time on the road. You were the first one to agree with the fact that the car seats weren’t exactly the best sleeping arrangements.

You dipped your hand to feel for the small knife that you started keeping just a week ago, only for the times when the motel rooms weren’t together. Some might call it paranoia, you just wanted to feel a bit safer when you fell asleep.

Standing up from the bed; you headed over towards your duffel bag that sat messily on the faded green shade of carpet. Maybe a cold shower would calm your nerves. As you bent down to grab a new set of pajamas, something stopped you in your movement. It took another hearing of the sound to realize that someone was knocking on your motel door. Your body froze up in panic mode.

Who the hell was at the door during this time of night? It couldn’t be someone from the front desk, the man was passed out cold in front of the small TV when you got back from dinner. Maybe it was the cops, Dean got busted for his infamous card scams. Or maybe it something else—like a monster, trying to lure you outside to kill you. You shook the thoughts from your mind and headed towards the door. You stood on your tippy toes and looked out of the peephole to see who it was. You instantly recognized the tall figure. You stepped back, unlocked the deadbolt and swung open the door.

“Sam? What’s wrong?” You asked. You observed his frantic behavior. He looked like he just rolled out of bed and dressed himself in the clothes from the day before. His body movements became stiff when you continued to ask questions. “Did something happen to Dean?”

“No. No. Just grab your things and meet us outside in five minutes.” He ordered. You opened your mouth to protest, but he was quick to lash back at you again. “I don’t have time to explain, right now. Just move.”

You watched as he bolted towards his own motel room before disappearing altogether from your sight. He left you with more questions to roam around in your mind. You closed the door and walked back towards the bag that still laid a mess on the floor. You began shoving clothes back inside the bag, not caring how neat they were. The tone of Sam’s voice made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. He only got like this on a few occasions; all panicky and demanding, only focusing on one particular thought. It happened right after he dreamt about strange visions that disturbed him on a personal level. Like the time that he dreamed about his childhood home or the nightmares that he kept having after his girlfriend passed away. You knew whatever he had seen wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

You stripped off your night clothes before changing into a pair of jeans and shirt. When you were putting on your jacket, that’s when the pounding on the door started. You shoved your dirty clothes into the bag and settled the strap on your shoulder. Walking towards the door, you were expecting a frazzled Sam, waiting for another moment to jump down your throat. Opening up the door; you were greeted with another familiar face, Dean.

The poor boy was still trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes, struggling to keep himself from falling back asleep. Out of the three of you, he was the one that was looking forward towards the sleep–but it was ruined. He opened his mouth to speak, but another voice saved him the trouble when Sam shouted your names from the parked Impala. Rolling your eyes at his impatient behavior; you made sure to lock your motel room before heading towards the car. Another long trip was in store for the three of you.

\+ + +

“MccReedy, Detective MccReady. Badge number one fifty eight. I’ve got a signal for a four eighty in progress.” Sam’s voice filled up the car’s silence, trying to talk over the rain that pounded against the metal roof. A small notebook sat in his lap, all sorts of scribbles written down. “I need a registered owner of a two-door Sedan. Michigan license plate–Mary-Frank-six-zero-three-seven.” There was a small pause before his tone of voice changed towards an annoyed one. “Yeah, okay. Just hurry.”

“Sammy, relax. I’m sure it’s just a nightmare.” Dean tried to calm his little brother down, who had been almost always on the war path since all three of you hit the road.

Between Sam’s moments of scribbling down his messy notes and complaining that there wasn’t enough light for him to see, he finally explained the dream that sent him into panic mode. He claimed that he saw a murder take place. An unfamiliar man pulled up into his garage after driving home; he shut off the engine and went to click the button to close the garage door—but it happened by itself. That’s when things started to become strange.

The car seemed to have started malfunctioning; the locks became bolted down, the engine turned back on without a turning of the key, causes the exhaust fumes to slowly fill up the garage. It sounded like a nightmare, nothing that there was anything to panic about. You and Dean tried to calm down the poor boy as he phoned the police to see if his dream came true.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Sam muttered towards his brother, moving the phone away from his mouth slightly, just in case the officer came back on the line.

“I mean it. A normal, everyday, naked-in class nightmare.” Dean said. You wanted to laugh at how wrong he was. Yes, it was weird for Sam to be dreaming about strangers dying. But between the both of you, there had been a fair share of nightmares that were more frightening than just standing in the front of the classroom with your birthday suit. Now, that was something you could handle. “This license plate, it won’t check out.”

“It felt different, Dean–real.” Sam paused for a few moments before admitting what you had speculated right from the start. “Like when I dreamt about our house and Jessica.”

“Well, yeah, that makes sense. You’re dreaming about our house. Your girlfriend.” Dean tried to play off this situation as nothing more than what it was, a nightmare. “This guy in your dream, you ever see him before?”

“No.” Sam admitted, continuing to stare out the window.

“Why would you have a premonition about someone in Michigan?” You asked, catching his stone cold glare in the mirror. He shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know.” He muttered to you, turning his head slightly before positioning straightforward again when the other officer came back on the other line. “Yes, I’m here.” He was quiet for a few moments, listening to the person. His face stretched into something that could be described as awe, he looked at his brother before writing something down. “Jim Miller–Saginaw, Michigan. Do you have a street address? Got it.”

You leaned yourself back into your seat, wondering what was happening. What if Sam’s nightmare was turned out to be true? Something began to nag at you–that bad feeling you got inside the pit of your stomach when you felt like a situation was going to be a bad one, or worse than all of you thought it was going to be.

Sam hung up the phone and shoved it back in his pocket. A sigh escaped his lips before looking over at his brother, speaking what all of you had feared. “It checks out.” He said. “How far are we?”

“From Saginaw? A couple hours.”

Sam was quiet for a few moments before speaking again. “Drive faster.” Dean didn’t seem to complain about that order. He pressed his foot on the gas and let the car speed down the empty highway, getting you all faster towards Michigan and in hopes to stop this before it happened.

\+ + +

All of you pulled up towards the neighborhood where Jim Miller lived; but the sight that you saw made it known that you were too late. Police cars were scattered around the house with a growing crowd of neighbors, wondering what the commotion was about. Your eyes wandered towards a gunnery that held a body bag with a fresh corpse inside. Two coroners zipped up each side while someone else took notes. You looked over towards Sam, who had been observing the scene unfold. His face wasn’t written with a pleasant expression, he almost looked guilty at what he saw.

You decided it would be a good idea to scope out the crowd of people to see if there was anything one of you could learn about the events that happened. You politely squeezed yourself through the sea of people, flashing a smile whenever one of them turned around to give you a look when you accidentally elbowed them in the back by accident. You stopped when you had a somewhat clear vision of the front door, the back of people’s head made it a bit hard to see. But you could make out a good enough vision of a woman hysterically crying with whom you presumed to be her son, standing off to the side as his mother tried to talk to an officer.

“What happened?” You asked, turning your head to look at an older woman standing on your left side. She tore her gaze away from the scene for just a few moments to look at you.

“Suicide.” She said. She shook her head, devastated at what took place. “I can’t believe it.”

You looked up at the boys, all of you gave eachother a quick glance before you asked the woman another question. “Did you know him?”

“Saw him every Sunday at St. Augustine’s. He always seems–” She quickly corrected herself at her mistake, sighing quietly before continuing. “Seemed so normal. Guess you don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors.”

“Guess not.” You muttered underneath your breath.

“How did, uh…” Sam spoke up, trying to hint at the cause of death. “How are they saying it happened?”

“I heard they found him in the garage, locked inside his car with the engine running.” Your eyes flickered towards Sam, wondering what he was thinking. He didn’t seem so relieved at what the woman had said–it was everything that he had dreamt about.

“Do you know about what time they found him?” Sam asked, a bit of hesitance in his voice.

“It happened an hour or two ago.” She explained, a sigh escaped her mouth when she focused her attention back on the mother and son. “His poor family. I can’t even imagine what they’re going through.”

Part of you knew what it felt like to have everyone’s eyes on you, like some sort of freak show attraction when you tried to figure out what happened in the aftermath of someone’s sudden passing. The mother spoke towards another man that had joined the other two just a few moments ago, he spoke something to her before she let out a loud sob and buried her head into his chest while she continued to cry.

You focused your attention towards the youngest Winchester, he kept staring at the family like it was his fault for what happened towards this man. He tapped his foot against the concrete, rocking his body ever so slightly, as he tried to keep himself calm. You felt your stomach twist into knots at how horrible he must be feeling right now. You opened your mouth to say something, but he bolted from his spot and headed towards the parked Impala before you had your chance.

You quickly followed behind, tugging on Dean’s jacket to get his attention to see what was happening. He turned his head to see that his brother was missing, he looked down at you, you nodded your head to gesture that he was behind you. Both of you made your way through the small crowd before you joined Sam as he sat on the hood of the car. You sat in the middle and looked up again at the man.

“Sam, we got here as fast as we could.” You said, trying to calm him down. But it didn’t work.

“Not fast enough.” He muttered to you. “This doesn’t make any sense, man. Why would I even have these premonitions unless there was a chance I could stop them from happening?”

“I don’t know.” Dean said. He was obviously as perplexed about this situation as you and Sam were. All of this wasn’t making any sense, as per usual with everything that you dealt with.

It was quiet for a minute between the three of you; you fidgeted around in your spot while Sam kicked a few pebbles with his foot as he clenched and unclenched his jaw before speaking up, a sigh escaped his lips to start his sentence. “So, what do you think killed him?”

“Maybe the guy just killed himself. Maybe there’s nothing supernatural going on at all.” Dean said, shrugging his shoulders while turning his head towards his little brother.

Sam shook his head, obviously not happy with that answer. “I’m telling you, I watched it happen. He was murdered by something, Dean. It trapped him in the garage.”

“A spirit, a poltergeist, what?” You questioned, trying to wrack his brain for an answer.

“I don’t know what it was.” He said, striking a small nerve inside of him. “I don’t know why I keep having these dreams. I don’t know what the hell is happening.” You and Dean stared at him for a few moments, both sharing looks of worry. “What?” He questioned you.

“Nothing. Man, we’re just worried about you.” Dean said, speaking for the both of you.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Sam argued, you rolled your eyes at his paranoia.

“I’m not looking at you like anything. Though I got to say, you look like crap.” Dean said. He eyed his brother for a few moments before turning his attention back towards the crowd. You pushed him for making such a rude comment, but he didn’t budge from his seat.

“Nice. Thanks.” Sam muttered. He gave his brother a dirty look.

A yawn escaped your lips, causing you to stop what you were about to say. You jumped off from the car and headed towards the back seat door. “Come on, guys. Let’s just pick this back up in the morning, all right? We’ll check out the house. We’ll talk to the family, somehow.”

“(Y/N), you saw them. They’re devastated. They’re not gonna want to talk to us.” Sam pointed out, you nodded your head at his point. It wouldn’t be appropriate to dress up like cops, either, knowing they probably wouldn’t be up for asking more questions that would be odd in their mind.

“Yeah, you’re right.” You said, crossing your arms over your chest.

“But I think I know who they will talk to.” Dean sparked up an idea. You turned your head to look at him, your brows furrowed at what he was thinking of.

“Who?” You asked.

His lips twitched into a small smile, you frowned. Whatever he had come up with probably wasn’t going to be a good one. It never was with him.

\+ + +

You had to admit this was the stupidest idea that the man had yet. Dean decided to take a more holy approach towards this situation; him and his brothers were dressed in the proper outfit of a priest and you were forced to wear a habit—the outfit of a nun.. Your fingers dug themselves underneath the veil, the starch was beginning to irritate your scalp. You didn’t know how those sisters did it with discipline. You were ready to rip this thing off your head and call it quits.

“Will you stop? You’re gonna ruin it.” Dean yelled at you, seeing you sneak in another scratch when he pressed the doorbell. You rolled your eyes, refraining to curse at him.

Sam sighed to himself, standing from behind you. His hair was slicked back as he adjusted his clerical collar. “This has got to be a whole new low for us.” He said, you shot him a look as if to say You think? Dean just smirked to himself, turning his attention towards the door when it was finally answered.

“Good afternoon.” Dean greeted, flashing a smile at the man that you had saw from last night. He looked at all three of you with a smile. “I’m Father Simmons. This is Father Freely. We’re junior priests over at St. Augustine’s. And this is Sister Collins, our mentor.” You flashed a smile at the man when he averted his attention on your for a few moments. “May we come in?” The man nodded his head, stepping back so all of you could head inside. “Thanks.”

Dean turned his head towards you and his brother for a few moments, his brows shot up as he looked at both of you with a glee in his eye before turning around and stepping inside the house. You hiked up your tunic so you wouldn’t trip and followed behind Dean, Sam was the last one to come inside.

“We’re very sorry for your loss.” Sam said, giving the man a sympathetic look when he closed the door behind him. You quietly sighed to yourself, he was still on this guilt trip that didn’t seem to end.

“It’s in these difficult times like these when the Lord’s guidance is most needed.” Dean added, pushing the priest cover a little bit too roughly on the man.

“You want to pitch your whole ‘Lord Has a Plan’ thing, fine. But don’t pitch it to me. My brother’s dead.” He said bluntly. You had to give him points on his brutal honesty.

“Roger, please.”

You turned your head to see the woman from yesterday who looked composed, but still grieving. Her eyes had rather frightening dark circles underneath them as they were glazed over with redness, making them look like as if she just done crying. She was carrying a tray as she gave the man a look. Roger sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Excuse me.” He said, bolting for the living room where others lingered around.

“I’m sorry about my brother-in-law. He’s just so upset about Jim’s death.” She explained, all of you walked up towards her. Your eyes dropped towards the glass tray that was wrapped with saran wrap. From the contents you could tell it was the infamous tuna casserole, just the sight of it made you want to become sick. Why did people thought it would be appropriate food for a gift to show for someone’s sympathy, you would never know. “Would you like some coffee?”

“That would be great.” You said, flashing her a smile. She nodded her head, turning around and walking towards the direction of the kitchen that was just previously behind her.

All of you reconvened towards what you presumed to be was the family room. You sat on a couch with Sam as Dean sat on the other that was across yours. You watched as Ms. Miller poured coffee, for all three of you. You reached for a cup, wondering if nuns were even allowed to have caffeine. Well, this one needed it from the lack of sleep she’s been getting.

“It was wonderful of you to stop by.” She said, handing the next cup towards Sam. “The support of the church means so much right now.”

“Of course. After all, we are all God’s children.” Dean said, flashing the woman a smile. Your eyes widened in annoyance towards when she turned away and headed towards the kitchen. He ignored your glare as he reached for a small hot dog on a toothpick. Sam scoffed and shook his head, Dean seemed to have finally noticed both of your stares. “What?”

“Just tone down it a little bit…Farther.” You muttered towards him, lowering your voice when Ms. Miller stepped back inside the room and took a seat next to Dean.

“So, Ms. Miller…” Dean started off the conversation, dropping the toothpick towards the dish before diverting his attention towards the woman. He tried to speak while taking small bites. “Did your husband have a history of depression?”

“Nothing like that.” She explained, shaking her head. “We had our ups and downs like everyone, but we were happy.” You watched as she slowly started to break down again, a sob escaped her mouth when she spoke up again. “I just don’t understand. How Jim could something like…” She trailed off, wiping a tear that escaped.

“I’m so sorry you had to find him like that.” Sam said in small voice. You and Dean looked at him, knowing where he was trying to get at.

Ms. Miller sniffled before speaking back up. “Actually, our son, Max,” She gestured a hand towards the boy that was sitting across the room, the same one that you saw last night. “He was the one who found him.”

“Do you mind if maybe I go talk to him?” Sam suggested, looking for approval from his mother.

“Oh. Oh, thank you, Father.” Ms. Miller broke out in a smile, her face becoming brightened from the idea. Sam nodded and softly smiled, he got up from his seat and headed over towards the boy, leaving the three of you alone for now.

Dean reached for a tissue that was sitting on the coffee table and handed it over towards Ms. Miller when she began to quietly sniffle a few times. She blotted her eyes and rubbed her nose, trying to get herself composed.

“Ms. Miller, you have a lovely home. How long have you lived here?” Dean asked, pretending to make small talk with the woman.

“We moved in about five years ago.” She said, thinking about it for a few seconds.

“Hmm. You know, the only problem with these old houses—I bet you have all kinds of headaches.” Dean continued. You leaned back as you sat your empty cup on the table, knowing exactly where he was trying to get at, but Ms. Miller was clueless.

“Like what?”

“Like…weird leaks, electrical shortages, odd settling noises at night—that kind of thing.” Dean explained in a nonchalant tone.

“No, nothing like that.” She said, shaking her head as she smiled at him. “It’s been perfect.”

“Hmm.” Dean muttered, flashing a small smile before averting his gaze somewhere else for a few moments before looking back at the woman. “May I use your restroom?”

“Oh, sure. It’s just up the stairs.” She said, pointing towards the staircase.

“Okay.” Dean said. Before he got up, he reached over and grabbed one more hot dog and popped it into his mouth. He smiled at the woman before getting up from the couch and walking for the staircase.

Your eyes slowly went back towards Ms. Miller, she weakly smiled at you as you returned it back towards her. Before things could become awkward, someone called out her name, giving her an excuse to leave you alone. You tapped your feet against the carpet. Dean must be scoping the upstairs and Sam looked like he was in a deep conversation with the son. Of course, there was nothing for you to do at the moment. You let three minutes pass before your nerves got the best of you.

You loved yourself through the small group of people, smiling when you felt a few pairs of curious eyes wander upon you and your interesting fashion choice. You headed up the stairs to see that Dean was in fact not using the bathroom. He was wandering around the hall with his back turned towards you. A particularly loud step caused him to figure out you were approaching him. He must have thought you were one of the guests, he shoved whatever he had pulled out back into his black jacket. Dean turned around to see who it was, his body relaxed when he realized it was just you.

“Anything?” You asked.

“Zip.” He said, heading towards you with a defeated expression.

You sighed to yourself as you headed towards the staircase again with him following behind. Dean took one more glance around the place before walking back downstairs. You grabbed Sam and all of you headed out of the Miller household, happy to let your hair down from the itchy viel and get to the real work of what was happening towards Sam and what killed Jim Miller.

\+ + +

Back at the motel, you and Sam researched everything that you could find on the Miller household that dated back towards its original date when it was built.. You only had ten years as a timespan to work with since it was a built in a fairly new development. Of course, there was nothing suspicious about the home or the families that previously owned it before the Millers. Neither of you could put your finger on what could have caused this. Slowly, you were beginning to believe that this is what the police were calling it; a successful suicide attempt.

But Sam’s strange obsession kept you on your toes. You were looking for a piece of evidence or perhaps a police record you missed while looking over the evidence for the fifth time tonight. But no matter how many times you tried to keep yourself focused, your patience was beginning to run thin. You needed something more solid than a “vision” to prove that there was foul play in this death.

You took a step back from the wall that was being used a bulletin board; a collage of different pieces of paper were pinned against the wood making it easier to see all the research that you and Sam had done over the past four hours. You and him observed the materials one more time, but nothing new seemed to be popping out. You let out a breath and crossed your arms over your chest in defeat.

“So, what do you have?” Dean asked the both of you. He was currently occupying himself with cleaning the guns that he had hidden away in the trunk. It was just one of the many excuses he used to get out doing anything related towards research, as per usual.

“A lot of nothing.” You admitted. You overlooked the board just

more time to see if there was something new that popped out to you, but you still were coming up empty. “Nothing bad has happened in the Miller house since it was built.”

“What about the land?”

“No graveyard, battlefields, tribal lands or any other kind of atrocity on or near the land.” Sam continued. He walked over towards his bed and sat back down, slamming the piece of paper that was clutched in his hand towards the nightstand in frustration.

“Hey, man, I told you.” Dean said, now focusing his attention on putting one of the guns back together. He didn’t seem to notice that his brother wasn’t quite pleased with the work that you and him had done. “I searched that house up and down. There was no cold spots, no sulfur sent, nada.”

“And the family said that everything was normal?” Sam asked his brother, turning around in position so he was now facing Dean.

“If there was a demon or a poltergeist in there, don’t you think someone who have noticed something?” Dean questioned. He looked up from the gun and gave his brother a look. Sam let out a sigh and turned back to focus on the wall in front of him. “I looked in the infrared thermal scanner. There’s nothing.”

“So, what, you guys think that Jim Miller killed himself and my dream was some sort of freakish coincidence?” Sam asked the both of you. You turned your head away from his staring eyes, he scoffed to himself as he looked at his brother. Dean just shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know.” Dean admitted. “I’m pretty sure that there’s nothing supernatural about that house.”

“Yeah. Well…You know, maybe, uh, maybe it has nothing to do with the house. Maybe it’s just a–Gosh–” You turned your head to look back at Sam, he stopped talking for a few moments to clutch his head. Your face scrunched up in concern. “Maybe it’s connected to Jim in some other way.”

“Hey, are you okay?” You asked the man.

You watched as he pinched the bridge of his nose and squeeze his eyes shut from pain that began to pound inside his head. He let in a sharp breath before he slowly keeled over towards the floor. “Ah! Yeah, my head!” He grunted out between deep breaths that he tried to suck in from the throbbing pain that was taking too much out on him.

“Sam?” Dean called out.

You dropped towards your knees when you approached Sam, you grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to get him to look at you to see if you could figure out what was going on with him.. But he was still grunting from the massive amount of pain. You shook him slightly, all though that might not have been the best type of action in a situation. Dean headed over from the bed and kneeled right next you as he tried to get his brother’s attention.

“What’s going on? Talk to us.” You said in a calm tone. He reached out a hand to do something as he eyes opened up as if the pain stopped, but a few seconds later he just spaced out. You looked over at Dean with worry, he returned your stare. “What the hell is happening to him?”

“Don’t you think I wanna know the same thing?” He muttered, as if Sam could hear the both of you while he was out of it. “Just leave him. He might be having a…a vision, or something.”

You let out a sigh and looked back at the other brother. Both of you waited a few moments before Sam finally managed to get himself back into reality. His face went from a blank stare towards a worried one in just a few seconds flat. He breathed in a few deep breaths before looking at you and Dean.

“It’s happening again. Something’s gonna kill Roger Miller.” Sam blurted out in a rushed tone. You and Dean looked at one another for a few moments. It seemed that there was in fact having a bit of fun with the Miller family. But Sam had the upper hand. All three of you didn’t waste anytime heading towards the Impala before Sam’s next premonition could come true.

\+ + +

“Roger Miller. No, no, just the address, please.” Sam was on the phone with someone, trying to figure out where Roger lived. There was a small pause before he got it. “Okay, thanks.” He hung up the phone and turned his head to look at his brother. “450 West Grove, apartment 1120.”

From where you were sitting in the back, you could sneak glances at the youngest Winchester. He kept wincing in pain every so often, subtle enough not to strike his brother’s attention. But you were too protective at the moment to keep your eyes off of him, just in case something else were to happen. Dean was practically speeding down the road, more faster than his usual pace. You could tell he was on edge with everything that was happening to his brother, hell, all of you were at the moment. There were so many questions and no answers to go on.

“You okay?” You asked with concerned voice.

Sam must have finally noticed your lingering gaze, he looked at you from the corner of his eye. “Yeah.” He mumbled quietly.

“If you’re gonna hurl, I’ll pull the car over, ‘because the upholstery…” Dean said as his voice slowly started to trail off, his gaze wandering from the road to look at the leather seats. You rolled your eyes at him.

“I’m fine. Just drive.” Sam said, trying to keep himself calm.

“All right.” Dean muttered.

The car fell silent for a few moments before Sam spoke up again, a sigh escaped him as he started his sentence. His tone of voice was quiet. “Dean, I’m scared man.” He admitted towards his brother. “These nightmares weren’t bad enough, now I’m starting to see things when I’m awake? And these visions or whatever, they’re getting more intense and painful.”

You reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder, you gave it a squeeze when he looked at you with that face. You flashed a small smile at him. “Come on. It will be alright. You’ll be fine.”

He sighed to himself again. “What is it about the Millers? Why am I connected to them? Why am I watching them die?” He questioned, as if you had all the answers. You bit your bottom lip as guilt washed over you when he spoke up once more. “Why the hell is this happening to me?”

“I don’t know, Sam. But we’ll figure it out, okay?” Dean said. You and Sam turned your attention to him. “We face the unexplainable every single day. This is just another thing.”

“No. It’s never been us. It’s never been in the family like this.” Sam argued. “Tell me the truth. You can’t tell me this doesn’t freak either of you out.”

You and Dean fell quiet for a few moments. You didn’t know what the oldest Winchester was thinking right now, but you were more confused in this situation. The freaking out was due towards what was happening to you these past few months. But this wasn’t the time or place to think about it. You had more important things to worry about.

“This doesn’t freak me out.” Dean and you spoke up at the same time.

\+ + +

The Impala pulled up towards the apartment building just in time to see Roger himself walking away from his parked car against the sidewalk with a few grocery bags hanging in his hands. Dean slowed down the car so he was now parked in the middle of the road. Sam leaned over towards the rolled down window and tried to get his attention before it was too late.

“Hey Roger! Hey, hold up a second.” Sam called out, catching the man’s attention. He turned his head and gave the three of you a perplexed look, obviously surprised to see you again. Happy wasn’t the word to describe his tone of voice, anger was more like it.

“What are you guys, missionaries? Leave me alone.” He said, waving off the three of you like you were crazy. Roger headed towards his apartment building, still ignoring Sam’s protests.

“Please!” Sam tried one more time, but the man was gone from sight.

Dean stepped on the gas and swerved towards the right, parking the car against the sidewalk, ignoring a man that was just walking on the sidewalk just a few feet from the car. You stepped out while Sam nearly jump out from his spot, he went running after Roger, still trying to get him to stop and listen to his warnings.

“Hey, Roger, we’re trying to help!” 

From the corner of your eye, you watch him go jogging down the road and straight towards the entrance of the apartment building after Roger like a crazy person. You and Dean followed behind, a little bit slower, but you both managed to catch up right after Roger slammed the door on Sam’s face and began walking towards the staircase. You pounded on the door, trying to get his attention, but nothing was working. You wanted to yell in frustration.

“We’re not priests. You got to listen to us!” Sam explained, pounding his fist on the glass door louder and harder.

“Roger, you’re in danger!” Dean yelled, pressing his face against the glass to see if the man was still there. But Roger was gone from your sight now. You let out a sharp sigh as you turned around and tried to think of another way to get inside the building. But Dean thought of something else. He pointed towards an alley just between the apartment building and the one right across from it. “Come on. Come on.”

All three of you ran towards the alley, hoping to find another way to get access towards the building, but was quickly stopped by an iron gate that didn’t budge when Dean pushed on it a few times. He looked both ways a few times to see if anyone was coming, but there was nobody around to see what he was about to next. Dean took a few steps back before he went and kicked his foot against the gate with a enough pressure to swing it open. Sam was the first one to go running down the alley, you followed behind the boys.

Sam found a ladder that would get you towards the level where Roger lived. You followed in their steps while trying to keep up with them. All of you headed towards the fire escape and began climbing towards the top. You didn’t dare to look down in fear that you would stop from the distance you were up from the ground.. Being up this far wasn’t something that you were comfortable with, but you still had a ways to go in order to help save Roger before it was too late.

You made it towards your fifth mental staircase when the sound rang inside your ears. All of you stopped in your movements when you tried to process what you had heard. It sounded like a window being slammed shut and a thud just above you. Sam stopped, looking at something while Dean continued to go up. You made your legs move faster and Sam was lagging behind for a few moments, but he managed to catch up. What sight laid ahead for you and him wasn’t a pretty one.

You stopped in your tracks when you saw that the window you heard being slammed shut was now covered in blood spray and his head sitting in the small space just below it. Roger was beheaded by the window. You had to look away from the gruesome scene when your stomach began to turn in knots. Sam’s vision came true again.

Dean patted around in his pockets before he pulled out something that looked to be like a handkerchief. He reached out and handed one to you, you looked at him, not sure what to do. “Here. Start wiping down your fingerprints. We don’t want the cops to know we were here. Go, go.” 

You realized that this was going to be a crime scene once the police showed up. You grabbed the rag and began wiping down any evidence that either of you were here tonight.

“I’m gonna take a look inside.” Dean said after a few moments of silence. 

You turned your head to see him opening the window that was right next to him and slide inside. Whoever did this would be long gone by now, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a peek around the place to see if they left anything behind and make all of it a hell of a lot easier to make sure nothing like this happened again to someone else.

\+ + +

“I’m telling you, there was nothing in there.” Dean explained after he spent the last five minutes searching through Roger’s apartment. “There’s no signs, either, just like the Miller house.”

It was no surprise to be hearing what he was telling you. All three of you walked out of the alley when you were done cleaning every inch of the place. You could be never too cautious when it came towards wiping down any physical evidence just in case the police decided to snoop around the fire escape. You had watched enough fictional crime shows to know they could lift the smallest print and catch the bad guy. But this wasn’t a show, this was real life.

“I saw something in the vision, like dark shape.” Sam said, oblivious towards the honking horn from the car that was heading down the road. You pulled out a hand to keep him from getting hit, making sure to pass the driver a dirty glare from his lack of observational skills. Sam finished his sentence when the car passed. “Something was stalking Roger.”

“Well, whatever it was, we can be sure it’s not connected towards their house.” You noted, you started to cross the street again when the road was clear again.

“No, it’s connected towards the family itself.” Sam corrected you, you nodded your head. “So, what do you think, like a vengeful spirit?”

“A few have been known to latch on to families, follow them for years.” Dean said, opening up the driver’s side door and sliding inside with you and Sam copying his actions into your own seat.

“Banshees?” Sam asked.

“Basically like curse.” Dean theorized. “Maybe Roger and Jim Miller got involved in something heavy, something curse-worthy.”

“And now something’s out for revenge, and the men in their family are dying.” You muttered, letting a small silence fall between the three of you for a few seconds. Suddenly a thought hit you. “Hey, you guys think Max is in danger?”

“Let’s figure it out before he is.” Dean said, turning on the car.

“Well, I know one thing I have in common with these people.” Sam said, changing the subject.

“What’s that?” Dean asked.

Sam chuckled to himself before he spoke up again. “Both of our families are cursed.” You let out a quiet laugh at that.

“Our family’s not cursed. We’ve just…had our dark spots.” Dean make up an excuse, but it wasn’t a very good one to win the argument between the brothers.

“Our dark spots are pretty dark.” Sam chuckled out, letting a smile grow, obviously amused at his brother’s denial of their family’s gruesome past.

“You’re…dark.” Dean tried to make up an insult, but it died at his lips when he mumbled out a repeated word. You chuckled at his attempt, he rolled his eyes and slammed his foot on the gas making the tires squeal against the blacktop before heading off towards the motel for the night.

\+ + +

The next day, you arrived back at the Miller house shortly after noon to check up on Max and his mother. Sam and Dean decided to dress back up in their priests customers, you opted out of wearing the complete nun outfit. You just wore black clothing and the veil, making yourself almost passable to be one of the sisters.

Max was the one that answered the door to let all three of you inside. He still seemed to be in the grieving process, but he wasn’t as bad as his mother who was now dealings with another loss. You focused your attention on the boy when all of you entered the family room again that was right across from the kitchen.

“My mom’s resting. She’s pretty wrecked.” Max explained, you nodded your head.

“Of course.” Dean said, nodding his head also.

“All these people kept coming with, like casseroles. I finally had to tell them to go away.” Max said, gesturing towards the counter full of different glass plates. “You know, ‘cause nothing says 'I’m Sorry’ like a tuna casserole.” You politely smiled and Sam chuckled at the small joke before an awkward silence filled the air for a few moments.

Sam cleared his throat, breaking the silence. Max gestured for all three of you to sit down on the couch while he took a seat on the loveseat just across from where Sam was. You got yourself comfortable as you possibly could. A small sigh left your mouth before you looked at the youngest boy with a small smile.

“How are you holding up?” You asked in a quiet tone.

“I’m okay.” Max admitted. He looked around for a while before his gaze wandered towards Sam she he spoke up.

“Your dad and uncle, were close?” Sam asked. His tone of voice was small, but curious.

“I guess. I mean, they were brothers.” Max explained. “They used to hang out all the time when I was little.”

“But not much lately?” Sam wondered.

“No, it’s not like that.” Max tried to explain again. You began to wonder if he was becoming defensive from the questions that Sam was asking him. “It’s just, we used to be neighbors when I was a kid. We lived across town in this house. And Uncle Roger lived next door. So he was over all the time.”

“Right. So, how was it in that house she you were a kid?” Sam continued the questions. You could see Max’s movements stiffen up. He didn’t even think about his answer before he blurted out right out.

“Fine. Why?”

“All good memories?” You asked, raising an eyebrow as you smiled. “You remember anything…unusual? Something involving your father and uncle, maybe?”

Max shook his head. “Why do you—Why do you ask?” He asked, letting out a shaky laugh that you could tell was a nervous one.

“Just a question.” You said, shrugging your shoulders.

“No, there was nothing. We were totally normal,.” Max explained. He let himself fall silent for a few moments before he finished his sentence. “Happy.”

“Good. That’s good.” You said, smiling at Max before you turned your head to see how the boys were reacting to what he was saying. You looked back at the young man and smiled once more. “You must be exhausted. We should take off.”

“Right. Thanks.” Sam looked at Max, giving him another small smile.

“Yeah.” Max mumbled, nodding his head at the three of you.

\+ + +

When all of you were far enough from the house and the car was just a few steps away, you ripped the veil off your head and shook out your hair from its confinements. You glanced back at the Miller household just one more time. The conversation that you had with Max just a few moments ago still lingered around in your mind. You didn’t get a good feeling from it, Max was acting like he was trying to hide something from all of you. 

“Nobody’s family is totally normal and happy. You see when he was talking about his old house?” You asked the brothers. You headed straight for the back seat while they continued to walk forward.

“He sounded scared.” Sam noted, making a turn for the passenger’s side.

“Max isn’t telling us everything. I think we should go find the old neighborhood.” Dean suggested. He took off the white collar and opened up the driver’s side door. “Find out what life was really like for the Millers.”

\+ + +

It didn’t take you very long to dig up the Miller’s old residence. You noticed that it was a good distance from where they were living now. The family must have wanted to get away from their old roots and start all over again. You and the boys changed back into normal clothes before you headed toward the neighborhood to talk to a few residences, see if they could tell you anything about the family.

Unfortunately there was mostly new people living in the neighborhood, the Millers didn’t ring a bell. That was until you found an older gentleman doing some yard work, his house was just vertical of where Roger and Jim Miller lived. The man seemed kind enough to answer a few questions, you thought it was worth a shot to see what he knew about them.

“Have you lived in the neighborhood very long?” Sam started off the conversation with a simple question.

“Almost twenty years. It’s nice and quiet.” The man said. He leaned himself against the broom while looking at the brothers. “Why, you looking to buy?”

“No, no. Actually, we were wondering if you might recall a family that used to live right scored the street, I believe.” Sam said, gesturing towards the houses with his thumb before he quickly turned around to take a peek at them.

“Yeah, the Millers. They had a little boy named Max. I remember them. The brother had a place next door.” The man said, you nodded your head. “That poor kid okay?”

“What do you mean?” You asked, pretending not to know what he was getting at.

“Well, in my life, I’ve never seen a child treated like that. I mean, I’d hear Mr. Miller yelling and throwing things clear across the street. He was a mean drunk.” The man explained. You looked at the boys for a few seconds before focusing your attention back to him. It seemed that the Millers had a dirty past, after all. “He used to beat the tar out of Max, bruises. Broke his arms two times that I know of.”

“And this was going on regularly?” You questioned.

“Practically everyday.” He said. You let a sigh escape your lips when the man continued. “In fact, that thug brother or his was just as likely to take a swing at the boy, but the worst part was the stepmother. She’d isn’t stand there, checked out. Never lifted a finger to protect him. I must have called the police seven or eight times. Never did any good.”

“You said 'stepmother.’” Dean pointed out.

“I think his real mom died in some sort of accident. Car accident, I think.” The neighbor said towards Dean. But his attention wandered towards the other brother. “Are you okay there?”

You turned your head to see that Sam was clutching his head again, like last night. You gave him a worried expression when he tried to grunt out an answer, ignoring the pain. “Yeah.” He said, trying to compose himself. 

“Thanks for your time.” You said, flashing the man a polite smile.

“Yeah, thank you.” Sam repeated after you. He turned around and tried to head towards the car, his hand going back up towards his forehead while Dean was quick to wrap an arm around Sam’s shoulders to steady his body after missing a step while getting off the sidewalk.

“You alright?” Dean whispering, taking a few steps with Sam before he stopped right next to the car. He reached and opened up the door for his brother, who was still in immense pain.

“Yeah. God.” Sam muttered out. He tried to control his breathing as he looked up for a few moments before it took over again. Sam was in the present for just a moment, but in a blink of an eye he was staring off into space.

You noticed Sam’s lack of consciousness when he didn’t respond towards the handful of times you kept calling out his name. It was happening again, he was having another vision. This one didn’t last as long from the other one he had. When finally came to a few moments later, he didn’t seem very pleased with what he had witnessed. All three of you got into the car before questions from eyeing bystanders could be asked.

\+ + +

When all of you were far enough away from the old neighborhood, Sam finally cracked and told you about his vision that he had. It explained that everything was happening and who was killing off the Miller men. The thing wasn’t a poltergeist or a demon–it was Max. You’ll take a psycho telekinesis for a thousand, Alex! Sam’s latest vision was about Max and his stepmother. Both of them were in the kitchen, having a heated argument about something. He managed to take control of a knife and corner his mother into the corner of the room before flying the knife directly into her eye. It seemed that Max wasn’t innocent as he seems.

“Everything that I've been seeing.” Sam muttered to himself.

“You sure about this?” Dean asked. He looked over at his brother with concern.

“Yeah, I saw him.” Sam said in a defeated tone. He rested his elbow on the door while he rubbed his face. Everything that he had been seeing slowly was starting to take a toll on him.

“How’s he pulling it off?” Dean asked.

“I don’t know. It looked like telekinesis.” Sam tried to explain.

“So he’s psychic? He’s a spoon bender?” Dean questioned. You rolled your eyes at his sarcastic remark.

“I didn’t even realize it, but this whole time, he was there.” Sam said. “He was outside of the garage when his dad died. He was in the apartment when his uncle died. These visions–I wasn’t connecting to the Millers. I was connected to

The thing I don’t get is why, man. I guess it’s because we’re so alike?”

“What are you talking about? He’s nothing like you.” You said. You gave the man a serious look, hating how he always put himself down. He just shook his head at you, as if you didn’t understand what he was going through.

“We both have psychic abilities. We both–” Sam tried to explain, but Dean cut him off.

“Both what?” Dean asked in a sharp tone. Sam sighed to himself, as if you and his brother weren’t getting the bigger picture. “Sam, Max is a monster. He’s killed two people and now he’s gunning for a third.”

“With what he went through–the beatings–to want revenge on those people. I’m sorry, man. I hate to say it, but it’s not that insane.” Sam said. He was acting as if this entire situation wasn’t messed up. Murder was still murder. No matter the tragic back story that was pinned on.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t justify murdering your entire family.” You argued with him.

“He’s no different than anything else that we’ve hunted. All right? We got to end him.” Dean added on towards your argument. But it went in a direction that you couldn’t agree with.

“I understand that we have to stop him, obviously. But we’re not gonna kill Max.” You said.

Dean stopped the car, parking right across from the Miller house. He turned around in his seat to give you and his brother a look. “Then what?” He questioned. “Hand him over towards the cops and say, ‘Lock him up, officer. He kills with the power of his mind.’”

“Forget it. No way, man.” Sam argued, shaking his head in disapproval.

“Sam–”

“Dean, he’s a person. We can talk to him.” Sam said. But Dean turned his head away, obviously not very happy with the idea of being ganged up on. “Hey, promise me you’ll follow my lead.”

Dean faced his brother again after a few moments. A sigh of defeat escaped his lips before he spoke up again. “All right, fine. But I’m not letting him hurt anybody else.”

He leaned over and opened up the dashboard. You could see the reflection of something silver when you leaned over the seat to see what he had grabbed. Your face dropped when you noticed that it was a gun. Quickly, you sat back down in your seat and gave the man a serious look. Dean didn’t say anything towards the two of you. He just opened up the door and headed out, making sure to tuck the weapon away so no one could see it.

You and Sam followed behind the oldest brother as all of you headed straight towards the front door. You reached a hand up to knock on the front door, but Dean decided the act of surprise would be a better approach. Dean busted down the door by ramming it with his shoulder, making him and his brother stumble inside to see the scene of the Millers, obviously surprised to see the three of you again. You caught Mrs. Miller standing next to the island in the kitchen, previously cutting vegetables while Max lingered in the the corner.

“Fathers?” Mrs. Miller asked. She took a few steps forward, but stopped, not sure what was going on right now.

“What are you doing here?” Max questioned. He stepped forward, blocking the knife that his stepmother was previously using. You were quick to notice the subtle shaking movements before it stopped when he touched it. He rested his hands on the counter, pretending to act innocent.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt.” Sam said, letting out a small laugh. He turned his attention towards Max, he took a few steps forward while placing his hands together. “Max, we could, uh…could we talk to you outside for just one second?”

“About what?” Max questioned.

“It’s private. I wouldn’t want to bother your mother with it.” Sam lied. He flashed a smile. “We won’t be long at all, I promise.”

“Okay.” Max said, going along with the plan.

“Great.” You clapped your hands together, watching as Max headed towards the brothers. Dean went straight for the door. Everything was working out, so far. “I’ll just stay back and help Mrs. Miller while you boys chat.”

But there was just one flaw in the plan. As Dean reached over and opened up the front door, Max noticed the gun that was tucked inside the waistline of his pants. He caught the reflection of the gun in the hallway mirror. All of you were so close. But Max wasn’t happy at what he saw, he felt threatened. So he decided all of you were going on lockdown for a while.Dean only had the door open a few inches before it was slammed shut on him. He turned around to look at Max, but everyone’s attention was drawn towards the locks that clicked shut and blinds slammed with an invisible force. There was no way in or out, now.

“You’re not priests!” Max shouted, becoming angry with all three of you.

Dean tried to take control of the situation in his own way; he whipped out his gun and pointed at Max, but that only lasted a few seconds. Something ripped it away from his grip, sending it flying towards the youngest boy’s feet. Max bent down and picked it up, acting as if he didn’t know what to do with it. But it didn’t take long for him to aim it at the three of you, ignoring his stepmother’s questions. You quickly grabbed a hold of Dean’s jacket while Sam pulled out an arm to stop the man from charging at Max.

“Max, what’s happening?!” Mrs. Miller questioned, her tone of voice rising in panic.

“Shut up!” Max hissed at the woman.

“What are you doing?” She kept asking questions. She took a few steps forward, but it seemed to make Max even more aggravated. With just a simple thought; he sent the woman flying across the room, making her head hit the edge of the counter. You winched at the thud sound that her body made against the wooden floors.

“I said shut up!” He sobbed out, frustration and anger lining his words.

“Max, calm down.” Sam spoke up, raising his hands up as a sign of defeat.

“Who are you?!” Max questioned. His teeth were grinding in hanger as he pointed the barrel of the gun at Sam when he spoke up again.

“We just want to talk to you.” Sam answered in a calm tone.

“Then why’d you bring this?!” He hissed. Max waved the gun around slightly. You swallowed in fear when you noticed his finger was now resting on the trigger. Dean reached out a hand and slowly pulled you away so you were now hiding between the brothers. Just in case.

“That was a mistake, all right? So was lying about who we were, but no more lying, okay? Just please, hear me out.” Sam pleaded with the boy.

“About what?”

“I saw you kill your dad and uncle before it happened.” Sam explained the truth.

“What?” Max asked, confusion rising in his tone.

“I’m having visions, Max,” Sam continued. “About you.”

“You’re crazy.” Max blurted out.

“So you weren’t going to launch a knife at your stepmom right here?” Sam asked, tapping a finger against his right eye. “Is it that hard to believe Max? Look at what you can do. Max, I was draw here, all right? I think I’m here to help you.”

Max looked at his unconscious stepmother, a sob escaped his throat before he glanced back at the three of you again. “No one can help me.” He admitted.

“Let me try. We’ll just talk…you and me. We’ll get Dean, (Y/N) and Alice out of here.” Sam tried to make up a plan of action, but Max didn’t like it.

“Uhn-uhn, no way. Nobody is leaving this house!” Max yelled. You looked up to see that he was now channeling his hanger towards the ceiling fixture that was hanging right above. It shook violently, threatening to come crashing down on all three of you.

“And nobody has to leave, all right? They’ll just go upstairs.” Sam said, trying to work with the boy.

“Sam, I’m not leaving you alone with him.” Dean argued with his brother, still staring at the boy with a threatening glare.

“Yes, you are.” Sam whispered. “Look, Max, you’re in charge here, all right? We all know that. No one’s gonna do anything that you don’t want to do. But I’m talking five minutes here, man.”

“Sam.” Dean tried again, but Sam stopped his brother by pointing a finger at him.

Max looked at his stepmother again before fixing his gaze back at Sam. “Five minutes.” You glanced up to see that the light fixture had stopped shaking for now. “Go.” He snapped at you and Dean. You glared at him from his tone of voice.

You and Dean slowly headed towards the kitchen where Mrs. Miller was still lying. You never took your gaze off the gun that seemed to follow you when you headed away from Max. Dean crouched down so he could move the woman towards her backside. He moved her hair out of thee way when she began to stir awake. Dean lifted her up into a sitting position before getting her to her feet slowly, keeping in mind that she must have suffered from a concussion after the blow to the head she previously took.

You grabbed a hold of her arm and placed it over your shoulder, you put some of her weight on your body so it would make walking for her a bit easier. You and Dean managed to get her by Max without another wound, never knowing if he would suddenly become trigger happy. You weren’t so happy with the idea of leaving Sam alone with that boy. If he thought it was a good idea, you would just have to let him handle it on his own. But you were a worrier, you couldn’t help yourself but jump towards a worse possible situation.

Dean managed to get the woman to a sitting position on the bed. While he was trying to keep her calm, you busied yourself with going towards the bathroom that was just down the hall. You forced yourself not to head towards the top of the staircase just to see if you could eavesdrop on the conversation the boys were having. You flicked on the lights and went straight for the medicine cabinet to see if there was a first aid kit. You peeked around the shelves to see that there was only a bottle of peroxide and box of band aids. it would have to do for now.

As you shut the mirror door, you nearly jumped in fear when you saw someone else in the reflection. It took you a second to realize it was just Dean. You rested your hand on your rapidly beating heart, and let out a breath.

“Jesus. Don’t sneak up on me like that.” You muttered towards him.

“Well, don’t sneak off like that.” He said, giving you a look that was testing your nerves. You rolled your eyes and began to walk back towards the bedroom, but he stopped you before you could step on the carpet again. “Stay in reaching distance, all right? Just in case.”

You nodded your head, trying to hide your shaking hands that suddenly started. You were beginning to grow more nervous with the idea that something bad was going to happen. Max was like a ticking time bomb. He was going to go off no matter what. You just hoped that the youngest Winchester could get out of the way before the worst started.

The two of you headed back towards the bedroom with some supplies to help the wound on Mrs. Miller’s head. Grabbing the red washcloth that Dean grabbed, you poured a bit of the peroxide on the rag, hoping that she wouldn’t mind from the small stain that would be left. You sat at the edge of the bed so you were close enough to inspect the wound. Dean was crouched on the ground so he could comfort the woman. She winced slightly when the cloth touched her wound. You tried your hardest to be gentle while you cleaned up the blood. But your time ran out when you heard the sound of squeaking ring in your ears.

The bedroom door, that was previously closed halfway, was now slowly opening. You dropped your hand towards your lap when you saw who was lingering in the hallway, Max. A bad feeling began to fill in the pit of your stomach when you realized he was alone. He stepped inside the room, letting the door slam shut right behind him. Dean got to his feet when he noticed that Max was now joining all of you again. He started to make his move towards the boy, but that was the wrong move to pull. In a blink of an eye, you watched as Dean’s body went flying straight in the wall with enough force to break the plaster.

“Dean!” You shouted in fear. You jumped away from your spot and rushed right over towards him, hoping that he was okay. Dean brushed off the blow as if it was nothing, even managing to get back on his feet with your help. You noticed that Max had taken out the gun and was now letting it float in the air. Dean went charging at him again, but stopped when he saw that his gun was now aimed right at him. But he wasn’t what Max wanted. He cocked back the gun and slowly pointed it towards his stepmother.

“Max.” She squeaked on his name, slowly getting herself off the bed in fear. But the gun still followed her movements when she stood up. Dean tried to protect the woman with his body, but the boy didn’t like that very much.

“Stay back.” He warned. “It’s not about you.”

“You’re gonna kill her, you got to go through me first.” Dean threatened towards the younger man.

A small, twisted smirk spread across Max’s lips. Your nails dug themselves into your palm when you heard his answer. “Okay.”

The gun shook a bit, you watched as the trigger was slowly being pushed back. But before anything could happen, the bedroom door burst open revealing a surprising face–Sam. “No, don’t!” Sam cried out. “Please! Please. Max. Max, we can help you, all right? But this, what you’re doing…it’s not the solution. It’s not gonna fix anything.”

Max scrunched up, acting as if what he was about to do was the worst idea. He looked at Sam, a small smile spread across his lips. “You’re right.” He said. But what he did next wasn’t something that none of you seen coming. In just a split second, Max turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger.

The banging sound from the gun and Sam’s yells rang inside your ears. You let out a shaky breath when you opened your eyes to see what happened. Your gaze slowly went towards the ground. Max’s lifeless body laid on the ground, a pool of blood was beginning to pour out from his head wound. You had to turn your head away again when Mrs. Miller began to scream in terror.

\+ + +

The police were called shortly after all of you managed to get yourselves back into reality of the situation. A paramedic bandaged up Mrs. Miller’s head wound while a few others went upstairs to attend towards the dead body. You and the boys had to stay behind to answer a few questions, the entire process only took less than twenty minutes. It was surprising of how well a group lie could get you this far without feeling an ounce of guilt from the events that took place. When you were done, you decided to stick around to support the remaining family member of the Millers. She sat on the couch so she could give her statement towards the officer. It wasn’t hard to see the grief and pain that she was still going through, even though it was all over and she could feel safe. But a mother’s loss was always the worst feeling, even if it wasn’t her own child that died today.

“He threatened me with a gun.” Mrs. Miller explained towards the officer.

“And these three?” He asked, pointing his pen towards your lingering bodies.

“They’re…family friends.” She lied. The woman looked at you before returning her attention back towards the man as she continued telling the story. “I called them as soon as Max arrived. I was scared. They tried to stop him. They fought for the gun.”

“Where did Max get the gun?” He questioned.

“I don’t know.” Mrs. Miller sobbed out. “He showed up with it, and he…” She tried to finish, but she couldn’t get herself to continue. She bent down her head as her shoulders sag, another sob broke from her as she began to cry.

The officer sighed as closed his notebook. “It’s all right, Mrs. Miller.” He tried calming her down, but it obviously was proving to be useless.

“I lost everyone.” She cried out. She lifted her head up and began to cry harder. You had to turn your head away, knowing the awfully familiar feeling slowly crept inside your stomach.

“Okay. We’ll give you a call if we have any further questions.” The officer averted his attention away from the crying woman towards the three of you. Obviously he wanted as a few as people in here as possible so he could wrap this up.

“Thanks, officer.” Dean said. You let someone lightly push you to break your concentration from the woman. You turned your head to see that he was staring at you. “Come on.”

You took one more glance at Mrs. Miller’s fragile state. She looked a lot like when you when you were sixteen and being relentlessly questioned by the police. It felt like your entire world was turned upside down, you felt so alone. But there was a difference between you and her. You might have lost an entire family, but you had gained another one that welcome you with open arms. They always were there when you needed them the most.

All of you stepped outside to see the same scene from when you arrived; police cars were parked around the place. The neighbors slowly gathering around the yellow police tape to see what the commotion was all about. The only difference was that you were leaving and you knew it was never going to happen again. Because everyone was dead and there was no more evil to hunt. In a bitter way, this case was closed, just like the others that you had helped solve.

“If I just said something else.” Sam muttered to himself. “Gotten through to him somehow.”

“Don’t do that.” You said.

“Do what?” He asked. You turned your head to look at him, you rolled your eyes at his ignorance.

“Torture yourself.” You said. “I wouldn’t have mattered what you said. Max was too far gone.”

“When I think of how he looked at me right before. I should have done something.” Sam continued. You shook your head. You wanted to shake the man from the guilt that he kept having over recent events. It wasn’t worth the headache.

“Come on, man. You risked your life.” Dean said, even trying himself to cheer up his brother. “I mean, yeah, maybe if we’d gotten there twenty years earlier.”

Sam sighed to himself as he headed towards the parked Impala, he stopped at the passenger side so he could take one more look at the house before focusing his attention on the two of you. “Well, I’ll tell you one thing. We’re lucky we had Dad.” You gave the man a slightly surprised look, you were taken back by his confession.

“I’d never thought I’d hear you say that.” Dean said. A small, but noticeable smile tugged at the end of his lips. You caught it before he could drop and continue with the better mood.

“Well, it could have gone a whole another way after Mom.” Sam said. “A little more Jose and a little less demon hunting, then we would have had Max’s childhood. All things considered, we turned out okay. Thanks to him.”

Dean turned around to look at the house one more time before focusing his attention on his brother again. “All things considered.” He simply said. He opened up the car door and slid himself inside, letting you and Sam to figure out what he meant.

\+ + +

You arrived back at the motel with the intention of packing up your belongings and hitting the road again. It was just after sundown, your body was aching and you could see the dark circles underneath Sam’s eyes from where you were sitting on the bed. The poor boy looked like he was about to drop from exhaustion. You knew that Dean liked to leave town the moment a case was closed, but Sam needed at least a few hours of decent sleep.

“Sammy, you still with us?” You called out, letting a smile spread across your lips when he turned his head to look at you. His eyelids were slightly drooping as he nodded his head. “Dean, let the poor boy take a nap. Just look at him.”

“He can take one in the car.” Dean simply responded. He continued shoving clothes inside his bag, ignoring the glares that you were giving him. “We’ve got a long drive ahead of us. He can catch up on his beauty sleep in the car.”

“Sounds like you could use one yourself.” You muttered. You crawled up towards the front of the bed and rested your head on the pillow. You looked at both of the brothers with a smirk, wiggling your eyebrows. “Come on. I’m sure it wouldn’t kill either of you to snag a few hours of sleep. Do it for me. I can’t stand it when you’re bitchy, Dean.”

“I’m not bitchy.” Dean said in a rather annoyed tone. You tilted your head and looked at him. He caught himself before he could continue arguing. Letting out a sigh, he dropped the piece of clothing and thought about it for a few moments. “Fine. Only because the both of you look terrible.”

“Oh, please. You look like you’re about to keel over.” You mocked him. A smile spread across your lips when he rolled his eyes at you. “And those bags underneath your eyes aren’t so…”

Your voice trailed off when Sam went towards the free bed that was right next to yours. The conversation that you were having with Dean slowly turned into a distant noise when he resed his head on the pillow. He made out one last word before drifting off towards a slumber that he needed.

After getting off the bed so Dean could lay down, you noticed that the room became silent. You turned your head to see that both of the brothers were passed out. A few hours wouldn’t kill them, and you could use the quiet time. Today had been a stressful day for all of you. You wanted nothing more than to grab something that you loved and enjoy the peace. You pulled up a chair and busied yourself away, getting yourself lost into another world where today’s problems didn’t exist.

\+ + +

Blood. There was blood everywhere.  
All he could see were a pair of hands in front of him that weren’t his own, they were so small and fragile compared to his. They were shaking violently. They were covered in blood, streak marks were seen as the fingers tried their hardest to scrape off the substance. But it only made everything messier. It took him a few moments to realize what was happening in his nightmare. Sam wasn’t himself. It was like he was looking into the eyes of someone else while the guilt of recent events slowly unfolded.

He felt the body move around, the sounds of footsteps pounded against the ground as the stranger wandered around the dimly lit room. It had to be female from the breathing patterns and her mumbles words of panic. They were almost too quiet for him to make out, but she kept repeating them, slowly becoming louder when she seen the pool of blood become bigger. She needed to get out of here, now.  
“Oh God. Oh God.” She kept muttering to herself while she wandered around the room until she found an exit and hurried out towards a darkened hallway.

She needed to leave. Maybe she should burn the bodies and dump the car into the river. Make everything that happened tonight just disappear. Their father wasn’t that smart of a man, he would never find her. He couldn’t even find the damn thing that killed his pretty wife. Maybe she should kill him too. Just get the entire family to just die, get them out of her hair. She could start over again like her mother always wanted her too. A happy, normal life. No Winchesters, no more demons. No more sadness. That’s how it would work, right? Of course.

“Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP.”

Her fingers raked through her hair when she stopped walking for just a moment. The blood began to slick back her hair when she clutched the roots, tugging at them until she winced in pain. She let out a choked sob when she realized what was happening. The monster was winning. She couldn’t control it anymore.

Quickly, she bolted for the bathroom that she could make out at the end of the hall. She would wash her hands first and then try to get herself to calm down, then she would make a plan. Panicking would only make things worse for herself. The more she thought she wasn’t in control, the more this thing could manipulate her.

The bathroom was tiny enough to hold a rusty sink and a clogged toilet she didn’t even want to go near. She avoided her eye contact with the mirror as she headed towards the sink. Turning on the faucet, an unsettling brown shade of water began to pour out before it turned into a clear color. She placed her blood stained hands into the water and let the evidence slowly go down the tubes.

She scrubbed and scrubbed until her skin felt raw to the touch. Her nails kept scraping at every crack of her bits, making sure there wasn’t even a microscopic drop of them left behind. She needed to be clean, she wanted to feel free again.

After washing her hands, she let out a deep breath and placed them at each end of the sink. It was going to be okay. She kept repeating the line to herself until she slowly started to believe in it, like she didn’t just murder her best friends in cold blood. It was like leading a lamb into the slaughter. Promise them something they wanted, present them with the prize and—Bang! Bang! Their bodies dropped towards the ground like a sack of flour and everything is right with the world again.

“Shut up.” She hissed in a low tone. She rocked her body on the back of her heels as she closed her eyes as hard as she could. “Leave me alone, please. Just go away.”

And that’s when everything went quiet. There was no voices inside her head anymore, no mixture of remorse or a sinister chuckle when it tried to believe that everything was alright. All she could hear was the sound of her heartbeat and the soft breathing.

Slowly, she lifted her head up to look at her reflection. Her (Y/H/C) hair was matted down from the mixture of water and blood. Dark circles and bags were prominent underneath her (Y/E/C). When she looked at her reflection, she looked so tired, defeated. It took the man only a few seconds to recognized the face in the mirror, he knew it so well.

It was (Y/N). But she didn’t look like her normal self. She looked so fragile and broken. Another thing that took him by surprise was the sudden change of eye color. In just a blink, they were the inky black color that he knew too well.  
“Little (Y/N); look at the mess you made, you don’t have anyone else to protect you.” Her tone of voice wasn’t the one that he was used to. The normal one was sweet and nice—but this one, it was stripped away to nothing but an icy tone. “Everyone you love is dead. And it’s all your fault.”

Suddenly her eyes were her normal shade again when she blinked. Her face dropped from a smirk towards a pained expression, the guilt was creeping back. She shook her head. “Stop it. Just go away, goddamn it! Leave me alone!” She screamed towards her reflection.

Then her eyes were black, the demon was back. “You can’t keep running away from me, sweetie, I get angry. And you know what happens when I get angry.”

In a blink of an eye, her eyes were a normal shade of (Y/E/C) again. She was back to her normal self. “Screw you.”

Then the demon side came back. A chuckle escaped her throat as she tilted her head back, acting as if she heard a funny joke. “Oh honey, you’re going to have to face me one day. And your time is running out.” She said in a matter-of-fact voice. “Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick. Tock.”

“Shut up. Just shut up.” She closed her eyes again. But she was back to her normal self again. “It’s time to wake up, Sam. Come on. Wake—”

“—up, Sam!” You violently shook the youngest Winchester as hard as you could. You gotten him out of the dream state after he began to whisper something underneath his breath as he began to make small expressions that made a strange feeling sit in your stomach. His eyes jumped wide open as he let in a gasp, it took him a few moments to realize where he was. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“(Y/N)?” He asked in a confused tone. He looked at you like he was expecting someone different.

“Who did you expect, the Boogie Monster?” You joked, trying to lighten up the mood. He tried to smile, but it came out as a forced one. You took notice of his tensed facial expression. “I’m guessing you had another nightmare?” Sam nodded his head. “What was it about this time?”

He opened up his mouth, but quickly shut it. “It was nothing. Just the usual stuff.” He lied.

\+ + +

Dean woke up a half an hour later and it didn’t take him long to complain about how long you let him sleep, saying it would screw up with his schedule. You threw a shirt of his towards his chest to get him to shut up. All of you had enough repacking to do, and you really didn’t want to hear him bicker through the entire process.

You busied yourself with refolding all your clothes while Dean pulled up the car towards the motel door to make it easier to load. Dean grabbed something from across the room while Sam loaded a few bags into the trunk. Your attention was ripped away from the clothes when you heard the youngest one speak up after ignoring almost everyone throughout the process.

“Dean, I’ve been thinking.”

“That’s never a good thing.” The other brother remarked, walking back towards his bag.

“I’m serious.” Sam said. “I’ve been thinking, why would this demon or whatever it is. Why would it kill Mom, Jess, (Y/N)’s parents and Max’s mother, you know? What does it mean?” This thing has a long track record of taking loved ones…you were fresh out of ideas.

“No idea.” Dean admitted, folding a shirt before stuffing back into his bag.

“You think maybe it was after us, Max and me?” Sam asked. You looked up from what you were doing and gave him a curious look, not sure what he was hinting at.

“Why would you think that?” Dean wondered.

“I mean, either telekinesis or premonitions—we both had abilities, you know? Maybe it was after us for some odd reason.” Sam explained. But it didn’t leave a good feeling in yours or Dean’s mind at what the man was trying to get at.

“Sam, it wanted you, it would have taken you by now, okay?” You suddenly blurted out. You knew the feeling of being hunted by this demon, but it wasn’t worth to just sit there and think about it until it drove you mad. “This is not your fault. It’s not about you.”

“Then what is it about?” Sam questioned the both of you.

“It’s about that damn that did this to our families—the thing that we’re gonna find.” Dean said. “The thing that we’re gonna kill. And that’s all.”

Sam was quiet for a few moments. He licked his lips before he spoke up again. “Actually, there’s, uh…” He turned his attention towards the papers that he was previously shuffling around as he continued talking. “There’s something else, to.”

“Oh, jeez, what?” You muttered.

“When Max locked me in the closet, with that big cabinet against the door…I moved it.” Sam said. He cleared his throat, awkwardly shifting himself around the room.

Dean chuckled at what he heard. “You got more upper body strength than I gave you credit for.”

“No, man, I moved, like…” Sam’s voice trailed off, you looked at him when he finished. “Max.”

“Oh.” Dean mumbled. He was quiet for an eerily amount of time before speaking again. “Right.” He reached over and picked up what you could make out to be a silver spoon. Your brows furrowed when he spoke up again. “Bend this.”

“I can’t turn it on and off, Dean.” Sam explained towards his brother, rolling his eyes.

“Well, how’d you do it?” He questioned.

“I don’t know. I can’t control it. I just…” Sam trailed off before he confessed. “I saw you die, and it just came out of me like a punch, like a freak adrenaline thing.”

You looked over at Dean who had become a bit unsettled with the thought. Sam was acting like he just confessed to murdering someone. “Well, I’m sure it won’t happen again.” You said, trying to get the conversation somewhere else. But Sam still danced around the conversation.

“Yeah. Maybe.” Sam muttered. “Aren’t you either of you worried? Aren’t you worried that I could turn into Max or something?”

“Nope. No way. You know why?” You asked him.

“No, why?” Sam asked in a sarcastic tone.

“Because you have one advantage that Max didn’t have.” You pointed out.

“Dad?” Sam questioned. “Because Dad’s not here, (Y/N).”

“No.” You said, rolling your eyes. You smiled at him and pointed towards the other Winchester brother. “Us. As long as we’re around, nothing bad’s gonna happen to you. You idiots have been doing a pretty good job babysitting me these past few months, I think I can return the favor.”

“Now, then,” Dean picked up his duffel bag and swung it over his shoulder. “I know what we need to do about your premonitions. I know where we have to go.”

“Where?” Sam asked. He thought his brother was going to be serious the way that his eyes grew a bit wider.

Dean’s face was completely straight when he said the answer. “Vegas.” You rolled your eyes and Sam scoffed, he just headed out towards the Impala. The oldest Winchester just grinned. “What? Come on, man. Crap table. We’d clean up.”

“You’re not funny, like always.” You shouted while you looked over your shoulder, giving the man a smirk as you slid yourself into the backseat.

Dean stared at the car for a few moments, thoughts began to fill his mind when he turned around and shut the door behind him. It was all the “What If” questions that began to fill his mind. He didn’t know which one to be constantly fearing for more. His brother the psychic wonder. Or you, the one that he constantly feared that would end up dead by some monster. Sometimes being the oldest was tough work. But Dean Winchester would never admit that to anyone.


	14. The Benders.

It could have been something, it could have been nothing. You found the next possible case for the three of you when you were reading the Minnesota newspaper at breakfast just this morning, it was about a man that went missing just about a week ago. Everything seemed almost normal about the disappearance of this man named Alvin Jenkins, but there were a few details that kept you wondering if there was something more lying underneath the surface.

An eyewitness claimed to have seen the attack happened just outside of his bedroom window. The police were stumped at what could have taken the man. Since things had been slow and John was making no effort to contact any of you, the boys decided to check it out.

The witness was Evan McKay; a twelve year old with quite a messy bedroom. His mother stood by his side, obviously not very happy that there was another round of questions being aimed at her son about the night. You and the boys were dressed up in the proper state police attire, of course, pretending to be officials so you could dig around a bit more to lead you towards anything foul about this case.

“I know you’re just doing your job, but the police have been here all week already.” Mrs. McKay complained. “I don't see why we have to go through this again. The more he tells the story, the more he believes it’s true.”

“Mrs. McKay,” Sam began. He took off his hat out of respect when he began to talk to the woman, you and Dean followed in suit of his actions. “We know you spoke to the local authorities.”

“But this seems like a matter for the state police.” Dean said.

You looked towards the young boy and smiled, giving him a reassuring look. “Don’t worry about how crazy it sounds, Evan. Just tell us what you saw.”

“I was up late, watching TV, when I heard this…weird noise.” Evan explained. He talked slowly while taking a few deep breaths. It seemed that night was still bothering him. Your face jumped up when he told you the small details, but it was enough to spark the boys’ interest.

“What did it sound like?” Sam asked.

“It sounded like, ” Evan stopped speaking for a few moments before he continued. “A monster.”

You and the boys gave one another peculiar glances at what he had admitted towards. But his mother gave you another detail about the night. “Tell the officers what you were watching on TV.” She said, glancing over at her son with a look, knowing how well an imagination can go wild after watching something particularly disturbing.

“Um…Godzilla vs. Mothra.” He admitted. You couldn’t help yourself but chuckle at his answer. Of course, what else were you expecting than an answer like that.

“That’s my favorite Godzilla movie.” Dean said. He cracked a smile at the boy, acting as if they were bonding over cheesy films and not just discussing a reported disapprove just give seconds ago. “It’s so much better than the original.”

“Totally.” Evan agreed, smiling at the older man.

“Yeah. He likes the remake.” Dean point fed towards Sam, who just gave him the infamous glare that he brought out on special occasions when his brother was acting particularly annoying.

“Yuck!” Evan exclaimed.

You rolled your eyes at these boys, you cleared your throat before Dean had a chance to stray off the topic that you were here for in the first place. The oldest Winchester quieted down when you looked at him, he dropped his head to look at his invisible notes before you glanced back over at Evan. You smiled at him again, hoping to get everyone back on this important topic.

“Evan, did you see what this thing was?” You questioned.

“No. But I saw it grab Mr. Jenkins.” Evan went on. “It pulled him underneath the car.”

“Then what?” You asked.

Evan quietly sighed to himself, he turned his head away from the three of you so he could look at something else in the corner of the room. “It took him away.” Dean tapped his pen against the notepad, obviously not getting very much important information that he was deeming useful. “I heard the monster leaving. It made this really scary sound.”

“What did it sound like, Evan?” You asked him.

“This…whining growl.” He slowly explained.

You felt Dean’s gaze turn towards you when he heard the last of the boy’s side of the story. You gave Evan a nod before you turned your attention towards his mother. “Thanks for your time.”

\+ + +

There was nothing better than relaxing in your own clothes and enjoying a drink with your friends. You might have left the research to Sam while he poked around in his father’s journal to see what he could find. The brothers decided to hang around the bar that was just across from where Evan lived and the parking lot where Jenkins vanished from. You were a few beers into the night, you and Dean were playing darts while Sam was sitting at the table that you managed to snag while all of you got here.

You stood a distance away from the board with a dart in your hand; squinting an eye, you made sure your aim was perfect before you threw it towards your goal spot. Your lips twitched into a grin when it stuck in the perfect spot.

“Ha!” You shouted, throwing your hands up into the air when the dart landed on the bulls eye. You turned around and gave Dean a smug look, knowing that you had raised your score, making you in the running lead. “Keep sucking, Winchester. I might just be fifty bucks richer by the end of the night.”

“You said you didn’t know how to play.” Dean argued. You rolled your eyes, laughing at the lie that you told him before the game started. His eyes widened when he realized what you were trying to do. “Are you hustling me? That’s my move!”

“Consider it as a down payment for the hundred bucks that you lost me just a few short weeks ago. You know, the motel room money that you bided against the broad with the big boobs and her biker boyfriend.” You said, your lips twitched into a smile when he became defensive about that night. It wasn’t a very good one for your wallet and his ego.

“I had a lack in judgement, sue me.” Dean muttered underneath his breath.

“As you do with all the women that you take back to the motel…” Your voice trailed off, biting your bottom to keep yourself from smiling again when he mocked you. You looked over your shoulder to check up on Sam, who had been awfully quiet tonight. “Hey, did you find anything more on the Jenkins case?”

“Maybe. Apparently there were signs of a struggle.” Sam said, grabbing the police report. You headed over and examined the report yourself to see if you could find anything that seemed oddly suspicious.

“They could be right—could be just another kidnapping. Maybe this isn’t our kind of gig.” Dean thought out loud. He placed up a dart to aim and then took a shot. You frowned when he got a bulls eye, damn those hunting skills.

“Yeah, maybe not. Except for this.” Sam pulled out his father’s journal that was previously tucked underneath a pile of papers. He pointed towards a certain entry. “Dad marked this area, Dean. ‘Possible hunting grounds of a phantom attacker.’”

Dean headed over so he could take a look at the journal himself. He grabbed his beer and examined the entry. “Why would he even do that?”

“Well, he found a lot of local folklore about a dark figure that comes out at night, grabs people, that vanishes. He found this, too. This county has more missing person per capita than anywhere else in the state.” Sam explained. You raised your eyebrows at his findings.

“That is weird.” Dean mumbled.

“Don’t phantom attackers usually snatch people from their beds?” You asked, heading back towards the boards to grab the darts. “Jenkins was taken from the parking lot.”

“Well, there are all kinds—springheel'd jacks, phantom gassers. They take people anywhere, anytime.” Sam said. “Look, I don’t know if this is our gig, either.”

“Yeah, you’re right. We should ask more around tomorrow.” You said. Maybe you were wrong about this case. This might not even be something that has nothing to do with the supernatural. It could be another missing person that happens every day. This town has a lot of crime, you have seen the folks, and they didn’t look the friendliest.

“Right.” Sam said. He tilted his head back down towards the paper when Dean switched out with you for his turn for the dart board. “I saw a motel about five miles back.”

“Whoa, whoa, easy. Let’s have another round.” You suggested towards Sam. You leaned your backside against the table as you propped your elbows up, watching as Dean went for another shot. You smirked when he hit towards the right of the board. “I’ll buy, because at this rate, Dean should have all of my money back at the end of this game.”

“Nah. We should get an early start.” Sam suggested. You nodded your head in agreement. You were beginning to feel the alcohol take effect in your system. It wouldn’t be hard to put your head on a pillow and get some sleep before tomorrow’s big day.

“You really know how to have fun, don’t you, grandma?” Dean joked. Sam chuckled off his brother’s insult while he stood up. “All right. I’ll meet you both outside. I got to take a leak.”

“Let me finish my drink. I didn’t pay for them just for it to sit here.” You said, grabbing the bottle and pressed it towards your lips. You watched from the corner of your eye as Sam headed towards the door and disappeared into the night.

You took a few more sips until there was nothing more than just drops at the bottom of the bottle. You placed down the bottle when Dean reappeared from the bathroom. Both of you met up so you could head out and catch Sam, who was probably ready to snag a room and call it a night.

A yawn escaped your lips when you stepped out toward the parking lot. It was a rather foggy night with a crowd more and more from the different cars and motorcycles that you didn’t see when you arrived just a few hours ago. You stopped to admire an orange cat sitting on the hood of a car. He was cleaning himself, paying no attention towards you. You headed back towards the Impala where Dean stopped himself, you caught up with him to see what he was observing. You noticed a familiar leather journal sitting on the trunk. It was their father’s journal. Sam wouldn’t just leave it out here.

You and Dean walked over towards the car, thinking that Sam was inside. He had seemed pretty tired, maybe he forgot about it. But when you noticed a lack of a body in the passenger’s seat, that’s when you began to panic. You looked up at Dean, you gave him a serious look while he began to lurk out the parking lot to see if Sam happened to wander off somewhere, but he wasn’t around. This wasn’t good. Your heart began to race when the worst possible scenario began to fill your mind.

“Stay here. I’m gonna take a look around.” Dean ordered. “Get in the car and lock the doors. Don’t open them for anyone.”

“Let me at least—” You tried to speak, but he immediately stopped you in mid sentence.

“Get your ass in the car, now.”

You were a bit taken back by his tone, but you did what you were told. You opened up the backseat door and slid yourself into the spot. Dean wandered off towards the entrance of the bar again when a group of tipsy people began to file out. You leaned over in your seat so you could lock the driver and passenger side doors before doing your own. You dropped back down in your seat, your foot began to move back and forth as a way to keep yourself calm. But it wasn’t working when you began to hear the distant shouts of his name coming out from his brother.

He’s okay. You tried telling yourself with a positive tone. Sam was probably just helped a fellow drinker that looked like they had too much to drink. He was responsible, he was smarter than this. All of you will have a good laugh, thinking that there was something bad happened to him. Everything will be okay.

But after a few minutes with neither boy back, you pressed your nails into your palm when you felt tears prick your eyes. What if he’s hurt? This is all your fault. If you hadn’t been so eager to suggest this stupid case, none of this would have happened. Sam would be safe. His life wouldn’t be in danger, he would be here with you and his brother.

You jumped a bit in your seat when you saw a dark shadow cascade over the front seat, it grew while it headed towards you. The sounds of jiggling made you realize it was just Dean, and the quietness made it known that his search had came up empty. Sam was really gone.

The oldest Winchester opened up the door and took a seat in the driver’s side. You didn’t dare say anything when he turned on the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. He headed directly toward the motel that Sam pointed out. Both of you needed sleep for tomorrow’s search. Sam was a big boy, he could take care of himself. You just hoped you could find him before something bad happened to him.

\+ + +

The next morning you and Dean went straight for the police department with the fake badges in hand. You weren’t in the mood to question the authenticity of the badge that he face you before you stepped inside. With little sleep that you had gotten, you were ready to bite someone’s head off if a person looked at you the wrong way.

You waited as you watched the police officer took a look over at the badges, it felt like forever until she glanced up and stared at both of you before speaking.

“What can I do for you, officer Washington and Simmons?” She asked, giving both of you the badges back.

You shoved yours back into your pocket while Dean tucked his back into his jacket. “We’re working on a missing persons.” Dean explained.

“I didn’t know the Jenkins case was being covered by the state police.” She said. Her brows furrowed slightly in confusion at the situation.

“Uh, no, no. It was someone else.” Dean corrected her. “Actually, it’s my cousin. We were having a few last night at this bar. Down at the highway and we haven’t seen him since.”

“Does your cousin have a drinking problem?” She asked the both of you.

“Sam? Dean scoffed to himself at the question. “Two beers and he’s doing karaoke.”

The officer smiled at his joke, you forced one before speaking up. “He wasn’t drunk. We believe he was taken.” You said.

She nodded her head and went towards her desk that was just right behind the counter. Dean and you followed behind in suit. “All right. What’s his name?” She asked.

“Winchester.” Dean said. He opened up the small door for the both of you to head over towards her. “Sam Winchester.”

“Like the rifle?”

“Like the rifle.”

You took the only seat while Dean lingered over you, his eyes never left the computer screen. The officer typed in the information towards the search engine and then hit the enter button. You waited ever so patiently until two search results popped up, both of the brothers names were found on the bottom. Her curser lingered over the first one before she clicked on it.

“Samuel Winchester.” She repeated what she saw on the screen.

You read off the information that you already knew, but your eyes trailed down towards a part that read Dean’s name with deceased written in parentheses.

Subject was prime suspect in multiple homicide investigation in St. Louis area prior to his death.

Yeah, that case wasn’t a fun one for all of you when you thought about it. Dean was framed for murder and psychical assault, even though it was committed by a shifter that even took you and Sam captive before he almost strangled you to death. Luckily Dean saved the day and killed the little bastard before anyone else could get hurt again. The shifter that still looked like Dean at the time, which what caused the problems you were facing now. Your times with the boys had gotten strange from time to time. Even you had to admit that.

“So you know that his brother, Dean Winchester, died in St. Louis.” She said. She glanced up at the two of you when she spoke up again. “And uh, was suspected of murder.”

“Yeah, Dean.” You muttered. You nervously chuckled while you took one more glance at the computer screen. “Kind of the black sheep of the family.”

“Handsome, though.” Dean added. You rolled your eyes at his arrogance that popped up on the worst occasions.

“Uh-huh.” She hummed. She typed something else into the computer before another search result popped up. “Well, he’s not showing up in any of the current field reports.”

“Oh, we already have a lead.” Dean said. “I saw a surveillance camera out by the highway.”

“Uh-huh. County traffic cam.” She noted.

“Yeah. I’m thinking the camera picked up whatever took him.” Dean said. But he corrected himself, knowing that he needed to sound as normal as possible. “Or whoever.”

“Well. I have access to the traffic cam footage. Down at the county work department, but.” Her voice trailed off, making your hope pop like a balloon.

“In the meantime, let’s do this the right way.” You watched as she got up from her seat and headed towards a shelf. She picked up a clipboard and grabbed a piece of paper. “Why don’t you fill out a missing person's report, the both of you can sit right over there.”

Your stomach twisted into knots when you realized that this could be harder than you thought it would be. You got up from your seat as Dean grabbed the clipboard, he looked over the document as he let out a quiet sigh.

“Officer, look, uh…he’s family.” Dean tried to explain. “And I kind of—I look out for the kid. You gotta let me go with you.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t do that.” She simply said.

“Well, tell me something.” You decided to amuse yourself. “Your county has a fair share of missing persons. Any of the come back?”

The officer’s lips twitched before she dropped her face towards the ground. You gritted your teeth at her nonverbal answer. It was enough to know what she was getting at.

“Sam’s my responsibility, and he’s coming back.” Dean stated. “I’m bringing him back.”

\+ + +  
  
Something right was going well today when officer Kathleen decided to speed up the process in this case, but you still felt like something bad was going to happen. You tapped your foot against the pavement as you pressed your two front teeth on your bottom lip, gnawing at the flesh until you could feel marks when you ran your tongue over the swollen skin.

You and Dean sat outside on the bench that was placed a distance away from the police building, where officer Kathleen had been for the past half n’ hour so she could overlook the camera footage. She didn’t allow either of you in there for “security purposes.” Bullshit.

It felt like the world was trying to make you go mad from the frustration that had slowly been building up for the past nine and half hours since Sam went missing. Dean might be good at hiding his emotions from everyone, but you couldn’t just yet. You were a worrier. You still got scared about everything that was happening to all of you. Your favorite game of “What If” was playing on repeat in your head while you waited.

With the past events that happened just a short amount of time ago, the talk about that demon possibly wanting Sam…you couldn’t help yourself but wonder if that's what took him. But with the similarity towards the Jenkins disappearance and his own, it was too familiar for it to be anything else. Demons were sneaky bastards. They would have done something more sadistic if they really took him. They would have made it known that they got what they wanted.

“Stop it.”

You were a bit taken back by the first set of words that broke the tense air. You looked over your shoulder to see that Dean was staring at you with those green eyes, his focus was on your bottom lip that was still stuck between your teeth. You quickly poured out your lips when you realized he was staring at you or an awkward amount of time. Your swiped across your bottom lip when you felt a small trickle of blood began to pour out from a rather harsh bite. The awful taste of rust and metallic touched your taste buds before you swallowed it away.

You twisted around in your seat so you weren’t sitting at the edge of the bench anyone with your back turned to him. You couldn’t hide your emotions as well as well as him. Privacy was a virtue right now, and you would sneak it in as much as you could. But you twisted were now sitting properly with your legs crossed. Both of you stared into the distance for a few moments, letting the silence fall over you again. It settled your bundle of nerves that had been going wild, strangely, this was making you feel calm for a while before the question came rolling out from your mouth before you had a chance to stop it.

“Do you think he’s okay?” You asked. Your tone of voice was so small, you barely heard yourself. You quickly opened your mouth again when the thought hit you. This wasn’t your place to act so timid and quiet. Sam was your best friend, but he wasn’t your brother. You looked up at Dean; you forced a weak smile when he turned his head to stare at you again. “I mean—I’m sure he is.”

“You don’t need to comfort me. I’m fine.” Dean simply said. You frowned at his words. Deep inside, you knew that it was bothering him that his brother was here with the two of you. The man was too stubborn to let his fear show when there was still so much work to be done. “You’re scared, though.”

You gave him a confused look; your bottom lip was pressed between your teeth again. “What?” You asked. Your word was muffled from the lips pressed together as you continued to chew away.

“You bite your lips when you’re scared. You tap your foot when you’re nervous.” Dean stated. You immediately poured out your lips again when you realized he was right. “It’s okay to admit that you’re scared sometimes, (Y/N). You’re not exactly like me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You couldn’t help yourself but question him.

“You didn’t grow up the way Sam and I did. Ella raised you to be a normal child.” Dean said. “You might think that you’re strong, which you are, trust me. But people like you have your breaking point. There’s only so much you can handle before you have to admit that you’re worried about the outcome.”

You thought about what he had said to you. It wasn’t a lie. Sam and Dean were raised to be afraid of the dark and the monsters underneath the bed when they were children. You were just tucked into bed with a kiss on the forehead after your mother showed you the monsters were just shadows. But everything has changed. You couldn’t run from the things that creeped around in the dark. You pressed your nails into your palm when you thought about one of those creatures that took Sam. You looked at Dean and let out a breath.

“We’re human, Dean, not robots.” You told him. “You’re gonna have to open up to me, too. It’s only fair.”

“I told you. I’m fine.” Dean muttered underneath his breath.

He turned his gaze away from you so he could stare at something in the distance. You rolled your eyes at how stubborn he could be. You let the silence fall between the both of you for a little while longer.

It felt like forever had passed until you heard the sound of footsteps treading across the grass and Kathleen’s voice calling out Dean’s fake name. You looked over your shoulder to see that she was heading toward the both of you with something in her hands. You noticed that it was a pile of papers that were stapled nearly together. That must have been the camera footage that Dean was talking about. You and him jumped up from your seats when she stepped on the pavement and headed straight for the both of you.

“I think we got something.” Kathleen said. She handed the papers over to Dean, you leaned over to see the photographs. “These traffic cams take an image every three seconds as part of the Amber Alert program. These images were all taken around the time your cousin Sam disappeared.”

Dean flipped through the screenshots that didn’t provide much detail. All you could make out were blurry photos that were park of the dark parking lot. “This really isn’t what I’m looking for.”

“Just wait, wait. Next one.” She said. Dean turned towards the next picture. It looked to be a pickup truck. “This one was taken right after Sam left the bad. Look at the backend of that thing.” You glanced up at her when you noticed that it was a piece of junk. “Now like at the plates.”

Turning the next page, there was a close up shot of the plates. You noticed how well they looked compared to the model of the car. “The plates look new. It was probably stolen.” You thought out loud.

“So whoever is driving that rust bucket must be involved.” Kathleen suggested.

Suddenly you began to wear the sound of a wheezing engine sound, you turned your head to see a black van that began to drive away. You wondered how that rusted piece of junk was still even moving at this point. To you it might have been nothing, but to Dean, it was a clue.

“You hear that engine?” Dean asked the both of you.

“Yeah.” She said, turning her gaze away from the car so she could look at Dean.

“Like a whining growl, isn’t it?” He continued.

“Sure.” Kathleen agreed.

You thought about his question for a few moments as the engine continued to make that obscene amount of noise. Even from the distance you were standing at, the noise was clear enough to make out. You remembered what Evan had you about the night that Jenkins disappeared. The whining growl noise that he heard after the man vanished. You turned your head towards the car again when everything slowly began to piece together.

“I’ll be damned.”

\+ + +

You sat in the backseat of Kathleen’s police car while she traveled down the highway. Darkness had fallen just a little while ago while all three of you had been driving around to see where your pickup could have headed off towards. With the help of some security cameras, you were able to make out a possible trail to find out where it could have gone. But the luck was slowly running out when you realized that there were more roads out here than either of you realized.

“Okay. The next traffic cam is fifty miles from here. And your pickup didn’t pass that one, so…” Kathleen’s voice trailed off. She kept her gaze on the road while Dean looked at something in his lap.

“So they must have pulled off somewhere.” You said. You glanced out the window to only see trees that were beginning to blend together. “ I don’t see any other roads here.”

“A lot of these backroad properties have their own private roads.” She explained.

“Great.” Dean muttered to himself.

The car became silent for a few moments; you stared out the window while Dean observed the outside to see if there was anything specious. Kathleen’s gaze broke away from the road for a few seconds when she heard the sound of her laptop make a noise. She tapped a few buttons on the keyboard, but making sure to keep her attention split with the road. When the information she requested popped on the screen, it wasn’t something that she was expecting to find.

“So, Gregory…” She spoke up, sparking another conversation.

“Yeah?” Dean asked. He ripped his gaze away from the window for a few seconds to look at the before he went right back to observing the outside scenery.

“I ran you and your partner’s badge numbers. It’s routine when we’re working a case with state police. For accounting purposes and what not. And, uh, they just got back to me.” Kathleen explained. Your concentration went straight towards her when you felt the car slow down before it pulled it pulled over towards the side of the road. “It says here that your badge was stolen. And there’s a picture of you.”

You looked over to see that that the picture was of the real officer that looked nothing like Dean. Both of you were caught red handed, but he still was going to try and get himself out of the messy situation with another lie. “I lost done weight. And I got that Michael Jackson skin disease.”

“Okay, would the two of you step out of the car, please?” She ordered.

“Look, look.” Dean quickly spoke up. Kathleen’s hand dropped from the door handle for just a split second. “You want to arrest me, that’s fine. I’ll cooperate, I swear. But first, please, let me find Sam.”

“I don’t even know who you are.” Kathleen argued. “Or if this Sam person is missing.”

“Look into my eyes and tell me if I’m lying.” Dean voice changed into a serious one. He stared at the officer with a face that even you could make out his emotions. It seemed that his mask was beginning to crack.

“Identity theft? You’re impersonating an officer.” Kathleen said.

“Here’s the thing. When we were young, I pretty much pulled him out from the fire.” Dean tried to explain with little details as possible to her. “And ever since then, I’ve felt responsible for him—you know, it’s my job to keep him safe.” Kathleen turned her gaze towards the road, becoming conflicted of what to do. “I’m just afraid if we don’t find him fast…” His voice trailed off as the tone dropped to a pleading one. “Please. He’s my family.”

“I’m sorry. You’ve given me no choice. I have to take you two in.” Kathleen finally said. You dropped your head down, you clenched your teeth in frustration. Neither of you noticed her gaze went up towards the picture that wes pinned towards the sun visor. She turned the engine back on and let out a quiet sigh, something changed her mind. “After we find Sam Winchester.”

\+ + +

After spending most of the night driving around the place only to come up empty handed, all of you stopped for a quick stop to get some caffeine inside your body. You didn’t waste anytime in diving into your drink. You needed all the sugar that you poured into your coffee before your body dropped into exhaustion. Your adrenaline from the past day and a half was beginning to catch up to you. With the idea that you could have a possible lead to finding Sam, it slowly began to make you feel a little bit better.

“Look, I don’t mean to press my luck.” Dean started speaking when he saw the car was just in view.

“Your luck is so pressed.” Kathleen stated.

“Right. I was wondering…” Dean trailed off when all of you stopped right next to the car before he began to speak up again. “Why are you helping us out, anyway? Why don’t you just lock us up?”

Kathleen thought about the question for a few moments before she told the both of you the truth. “My brother Riley disappeared three years ago—a lot like Sam. We searched for him, but…nothing.” She explained. “I know what it’s like to feel responsible for someone and for them.” She stopped talking for a few moments before she broke out into a small smile and headed for the car. “Come on. Let’s keep at it.”

The three of you loaded back into the car and drove off towards the highway again. Mostly it was just the same scenery as you saw last night. Trees, trees and more trees. You were beginning to think that there was nothing here except for wildlife and the strange lack of any houses. You were beginning to lose hope, but that was until Dean found something from his side of the window.

“Pull over. Pull over here.” He said, pointing towards a dirt path. Kathleen slowed down the car and parked it off towards the side of the road. Dean was the first one to step out with you and Kathleen following behind. You made your way up to him as he began to head straight up to the dirt path. “This is the first turnoff that I’ve seen so far.”

“You stay behind. I’ll check it out.” Kathleen said, catching up with him.

“No way.” Dean argued.

Kathleen stopped walking. She looked at Dean with a stern look. He quickly followed in her actions she be realized everyone had stopped walking. “You’re both civilians—and felons, I think.” Well, that part was true for Dean. “I’m not taking either of you with me.”

“Leave her behind, I don’t care.” You glared at him. He ignored it. “But you’re not going without me.”

Kathleen exhaled sharply. “All right. You promise me you won’t get involved? You’ll let me handle it?”

“Yeah, I promise.” He lied straight through his teeth.

“Shake on it.” Kathleen said, putting out her hand.

Dean shrugged his shoulders at her request, he put out his arm and let their hands wrap together. But he didn’t seem to notice the pair of handcuffs that she had waiting in her other hand. Before he could pull away, she quickly slapped the first cuff over his wrist and locked it into in place.

“Oh, come on.” He said. He looked down at the handcuffs before glancing back up at her.

A chuckle escaped his throat, expecting this to be a joke. But it wasn’t turning out to be one she she pulled out an extra set for you. This wasn’t going as according to plan like you wanted. But you placed out your wrist, not being the type to mess with the authorities. Might as well get this over with before it could get worse.

Kathleen escorted the both of you back towards the car she cuffed Dean the driver’s side and you to the back seat handle so neither of you could wander around and cause trouble. She clicked the second cuff into place for Dean. Without saying anything else, she went on new merry way.

“This is ridiculous.” Dean muttered to himself before speaking up. “Kathleen, I really think you’re gonna need my help.”

“I’ll manage.” She said. She lifted up her arm so she could lock the doors so none of you could pull a move to escape. “Thank you.”

Dean jiggled around his wrist as if somehow the lock would break and he would be set free. When that didn’t work, he began to pat around his pockets to feel for something. “I got to start carrying paper clips.”

You felt time go by ever so slowly when you just stood around while Dean tried to figure out a way to get the both of you out of the mess that he caught himself in. You noticed that he was staring at something for an odd amount of time. You looked over your shoulder to see that his attention was fixated on the antenna that was sticking out from the top of the roof. In dire situations, you needed to get creative.

Suddenly your attention was ripped away from the hood when you heard that noise again…that whining growl noise. You turned your gaze up a bit to see that it was coming just beyond the dirt path, and it was beginning to get louder with each passing moment. Dean immediately leaned over and tried to grab the antenna, but it was just centimeters from his grip.

“Son of a bitch. ” He grunted out.

You stood on your tippy toes and tried your hardest to help out, you tried to stretch out your body a bit more so you could reach it. But your body compared to Dean’s wasn’t even a fair match. Your heart began to pound when you heard the engine start to become even louder. Dean continued to make himself reach for it before it was too late. And as if by some miracle, he managed to get it in his grip on it. He turned it ever slowly to get it out of its spot.

“Hurry up!” You hissed in a whispered tone, your nerves were becoming the best of you.

But your voice startled him, causing the antenna to slip out his grip and drop towards the muddy ground. Both do you dropped toward your knees before it was too late. He quickly grabbed it and began to pick the lock of his own cuffs. You moved up ever so slightly to see if anyone was coming. A sigh of relief escaped your lips when you realized there was still time before someone could discover the two of you.

You looked down again when you saw that Dean was beginning to pick your own lock. It didn’t take him very long before the both of you were free of your own restraints. When you got free, he grabbed your wrist and and pulled you to your feet. Both of you ran as fast a could into woods before you could realize what was causing this.

\+ + +

You and Dean found yourselves running towards a rather old looking home. You don’t have much time to take a look around before you were being yanked towards a basement door. You followed behind when Dean opened it up and stepped inside to see what he could find. But it was nothing that either of you were expecting.

The room was dirty and poorly lit, but you managed to find your way around with only bumping into the Winchester a few times as he guided the way through this place. You stepped inside another room to see something that you weren’t expecting. Looking around the room; it had to be some sort of captivity from the creepy amount of mental fences that were spread around the place, blocking off certain areas. You turned your head for just a second, bud two very familiar faces caught your attention.

“Sam?” You blurted out in shock.

You and Dean bolted straight for the metal cage when you saw the youngest Winchester lying in. You broke into a smile when you caught a glimpse of his grin. You let out a sigh of relief to see that he was in one piece.

“Are you hurt?” Dean questioned.

“No.” Sam said, shaking his head.

“Damn. It’s good to see you.” Dean broke into a smile, he slapped the cage for effort.

Your attention was ripped away and towards Kathleen, who had seemed unharmed herself. “How did you get out of my cuffs?” She asked the both of you. You sheepishly smiled at her.

“I know a trick or two.” Dean stated.

“All right.” You headed towards the locks to see if there was a way to bust them open. But when you saw they were made of steel slots with no chance of bending from pressure, you frowned. “Oh. These locks look like they’re gonna be a bitch.”

“There’s some kind of automatic control right there.” Sam explained, pointing towards a control panel just right across from where you were standing. You went straight over to see if you could play around with it. Dean followed behind.

“Have you seen them?” The oldest Winchester asked his brother.

“Yeah. Dude, they’re just people.” Sam stated. You looked at the man as if he had grown a second head. That wasn’t the answer that you were expecting.

“And they jumped you?” Dean asked. “Must be getting pretty rusty, kiddo.”

You rolled your eyes at him as you continued to poke around. “What do they want?”

“I don’t know.” Sam admitted. “They let Jenkins go. But I think it was some kind of trap. Doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“Well, that’s the point. You know with your—” You stopped talking for a few second when you turned your attention towards Kathleen before looking back at the electric box. “Your usual playmates. There’s rules, there’s patterns. But with certain people, they’re just crazy.”

“See anything out there?” Kathleen asked.

“Uh, he has about a dozen junked cars hidden out back.” Dean said, walking up towards her. “I’m thinking when they take someone, they take their car.”

“Did you see a black mustang out there. About ten years old?” She asked again.

“Yeah, actually I did.” Dean said. It didn’t take him very long to catch on. “Your brother’s?” She ranked silent as her gaze went somewhere else. “I’m sorry.”

“Let’s get you out of here. Then we’ll take care of those bastards.” You said. You turned around to look at Sam. “This takes a key. Key?”

“I don’t know.”

“All right. I better go find it.” Dean said. His gaze dropped towards you. “Stay here and out of the way. I’ll be back in five minutes.”

“And what if you’re not?” You questioned.

“Better hope you’re quick on your feet to find a hiding spot.”

You clenched your jaw when you watched as he exited through the door that the both of you came into. It took only three minutes before you snuck away from everyone else and made your way to Dean. You couldn’t help yourself but take a little quick search to see what was taking so long.  
  
\+ + +  
  
Your curiosity was something that you never liked to indulge in; you were taught that it would be better to stay in the dark as long as you could before you had to face the truth. But you couldn’t help yourself when you traveled towards the house. Dean had been gone for exactly five minutes now. Maybe you should take a peek around to make sure he was okay. You knew that out of everyone alive in this world, he could defend himself against a few crazy people. So maybe that wasn’t the case when you decided to sneak out of the makeshift prison and tread across the muddy grounds in the dead of night. You should have stayed behind with Kathleen and Sam, there was enough hiding spaces back there to hide yourself away if something were to happen.

But something was drawing you towards that house. You wanted to know what drove these people to do what they do, whatever it really was. Torture? Murder? Maybe they had trophies of their victims like serial killers. It was all strange for you, even still after all these months from what you have seen close up. Demons, shape shifters, spirits, poltergeists, a telekinesis freak—and humans is what was making you curious to know more about what made them tick. Because with a creature, they had to start somewhere to get where they are now. But with humans, there was so much up in there than just a tragic backstory that makes them into a monster.

You bit your bottom lip when you turned the doorknob towards the basement door and pushed it open ever so softly. You sneaked around the back of the house to make your secret entrance. There was a few lights on in the house making it impossible for you to go through the front door, you didn’t want to give the people that much of a warm welcome. Two minutes, tops. That’s all the time you would give yourself before you would make it back to Sam and hide away. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see crazy humans in their personal habitat, you couldn’t miss out on it.

Darkness engulfed your vision when you shut the door behind you. You patted around the place to see where you were going. You touched a few questionable objects until somehow you touched something that you made out to be a…flashlight? By some random luck, you picked up the object so you could examine it underneath the small amount of moonlight that was pouring out through the basement window. You twisted the bottom a few times until you were blinded with a sudden burst of fluorescent lights.

You blinked a few times to get your eyes adjusted from the sudden brightness of the lights before you made your way around the cluttered basement. Every inch of this place was almost jammed pack with all sorts of useless junk. Wandering around a bit, you found yourself finding what you had been looking for; an entire bookshelf covered with more than just dust. All sorts of mason jars were filled with different things that ranged from reading glasses to peculiar looking things in murky water. Your nose scrunched up when you flicked the glass, the thing moved from the vibrations.

Walking around a bit more, you found yourself in front of what was a fence that held different Polaroid photographs. You flashed the light over them to see they weren’t exactly the typical family pictures. It was rather grim to see what these people did for fun. You saw the two same men in the photographs with different, from what you were presuming, dead bodies They had this grin on their face, as if they were proud of what they had done. You could make out the bloody wounds on the dead bodies, they looked like they had been tortured before being murdered. A nervous feeling began to turn in the pit of your stomach when you remembered you were sitting in their house.

You plucked a photograph from the top to discover a rather familiar looking face—it was Alvin Jenkins, the man that you and the boys had been looking for in the first place. You saw the familiar men with the same camouflage clothing and blackish-green paint spread across their face. The same, twisted grin was spread across their face when one of them held Jenkins lifeless moving head by his hair. You turned the picture upside to see that they had his dead body lying on something that must have been a table. It was still as gruesome as before.

“Demons, I get. People, not so much.” You muttered to yourself.

You dropped the photographs towards the table that was just underneath it. You wandered around the basement a bit more until something broke you from your concentration, it was almost like a thumping sound coming from upstairs. You quietly walked towards the staircase to hear what was happening. But from where you were standing, it was hard to make out what was going on. You took the first three steps, before you stopped in your tracks when you overheard the sounds of a squeaky step. You winced and waited to see if someone would inspect the noise, but it seemed that they were distracted with other things.

Making it towards the top without another incident, you lingered outside for a few moments to see if there was any more noise. When everything seemed to have grown quiet, you peeked out your head out ever so slightly to see what was going on. All you could see was just a home that was in desperate need of a deep cleaning from the amount of dirt and strange objects that was covering this place. You waited to see if anyone was going to pop out from the halls, but it seemed that you were alone for now. Sucking in a breath, you stepped inside the hallway to take a look further into the house.

You wandered around the hall, making sure to take quiet steps when the floorboards squeaked ever so softly from the amount of weight that you put on them. It didn’t take you very long to hear the sounds of what you were presuming was a mixture of grunts and swears. You quickly dashed for the kitchen that was on your left when footsteps were coming from just beyond the living room, thinking it was the only way to keep yourself safe, but it seemed that it would leave you into nothing more than trouble.

You peeked around the edge of the corner to see what was going on. You could only see the backs of four people turned towards you. You turned around so you were now out of sight for just a few moments. Pressing your back against the wall, you were greeted with a rather disturbing sight. The counter tops were covered in a dark red substance with all sorts of scary looking tools spread across the place. Your eyes made contact with a knife that was just sitting on the edge of the table, you reached for it as a defense, but someone grabbed your wrist before you had a chance to do anything else.

A gasp of pain escaped your throat when you felt your arm being yanked roughly behind you before it was pinned behind your backside. You struggled to get out the grip, but you were being thrown down against the table top. You struggled to get yourself out of the grip, but the person that was holding you had to be twice your size. Looking over your shoulder, you came face to face with one of the men that you had seen in the photographs. And he was giving you that twisted grin that made your heart roughly pound in chest. Maybe it was from fear that was causing it, or the fact that it looked like he hadn’t brushed his teeth in months.

“Caught another one!” The man called out, his eye contact never breaking with yours. You gave him a death glare, trying your hardest to wrack your brain with ideas of how to get yourself out of this. But the boys never taught you of what do when some hillbilly was holding you against your will. And as much as you struggled to get out of his grip, it only made him squeeze your wrist tighter.

“Get your disgusting hands off me.” You hissed out towards him. “Or I swear to God, I’ll rip your throat out.”

In just a blink of an eye, you felt your body being yanked up before being spun backwards so your back was pressed against the wooden table. You were now face to face with him, you clenched your jaw when you just stared at him with disgust. Suddenly you were regretting ever leaving Sam if this was going to happen. You pressed your palms against the table for a fighting chance to get out of this alive. Your fingers slowly inched towards the knife that you saw from the corner of your eye. If this guy was going to keep his attention on you, maybe, just maybe, you could catch him off guard.

“Aren’t you a little fighter.” He dropped his tone towards a whisper. Your nose scrunched up in disgust when he began to size you up like some dumb broad. Your fingers were just centimeters from the knife now, if you just kept his attention for a little while longer… “You’re gonna be lots of fun, aren’t you?”

“Well, you know what they say about the tricky ones.” You said with a smirk. Your hand was now wrapped around the handle of the knife. “You gotta keep them away from the sharp objects.”

You took your chance; you swung the knife up and aimed for his shoulder, but it seemed that he was one step ahead of you than expected him to be. He dodged your attack, but you managed to nick him just hard enough to make him flinch and step backwards. You tried to take your chance to swing at him again, but he quickly grabbed your bruised wrist and twisted it ever so roughly, it made something snap. You screamed out in pain that began to throb in the tendons, you channeled the anger towards inflicting it on the man.

You swung up your leg and kicked him straight in the stomach. The force wasn’t strong enough move his body, but he was caught off guard enough to make him stumble backwards. You made your way towards the knife that had dropped just across the floor, you slid on your knees when you touched it with your good hand. But before you had a chance to grab it, the man was quicker. He slammed your stomach against the grimy floor as he pinned back your wrist again.

“You stupid bitch.” He hissed out in anger. You didn’t have much time to yell out an insult before you were trying to keep another scream from your mouth when you feel the tip of the knife dig into the fabric of your shirt, cutting it so the cold metal touched your skin. He drag it down your backside just far enough to make a small wound open up. You bit your bottom lip hard enough so you wouldn’t let him hear you suffer.

“I’m gonna rip your fu—” Before you had a chance to finish your sentence, you felt the side of your head roughly being smashed against the hard wood floors. Your visions engulfed into darkness before you even felt the blow hit you.

\+ + +

Confusion was the first thing that crossed your mind when you slowly awoke from your slumber. You tried to figure out what was going on, but the pain that shot through your body when you moved was the next thing that you registered. Your wrist was throbbing in pain and your backside felt strangely wet. And your head was killing you. It only took a few seconds to realize that you weren’t in the kitchen anymore.

Making your head lift up, you tugged on your wrists but only to find they were tied behind your back like you had dreaded. You opened up your eyes to see a very unpleasant sight. Four unfamiliar faces were staring at you; two of them were the men in the photographs, a little girl that had to be no older than thirteen and an older man that was sitting on a chair so he was at eye level with you. From the corner of your eye, you watched as Dean awoke from his slumber. Both of you were cornered with no way to escape.

“Come on.” The second man, that was standing next to their father, crouched down as he looked at you and Dean with a smirk. He placed his hands on the man’s shoulders. “Let us hunt ‘em.”

“Yeah, this one’s a fighter.” The one that attacked you spoke up. You gave him the death glare while he just stared at you like you were nothing more than a prize that he wanted to hang up on his wall. “Sure would be fun to hunt.” Their father just laughed, letting a smile spread across his face to show off his yellow and rotting teeth to you.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me. That’s what this is about—you yahoos hunt people?” Dean questioned. You weren’t surprised at what you were hearing. What else were you to expect from a bunch of freaks that lived in the middle of the nowhere. That explained everything a bit more clearly.

“You ever killed before?” The oldest man asked, his eyebrows arching up slightly.

“What?” Dean covered up the question with a slight chuckle. But it seemed to cause him nothing more than pain from his hidden bruises across his body. “Well, that depends on what on you mean.”

“I’ve hunted all my life. Just like my father, his father before. I’ve hunted deer and bear. I even caught a cougar once. Right, boys? “But the best hunt…is human.” The old man rambled on as he leaned ever so slightly in your direction. He was grinning like a fool. You looked at him with disgust. If your hands were free, the old geezer would be spitting out his teeth. “Oh, there’s nothing like it. Holding their life in your hands…seeing the fear in their eyes just before they go dark. Makes you feel powerful alive.”

“You’re a sick puppy.” Dean muttered out.

“We give him a weapon. We give them a fighting chance.” The old man got up from his spot as he continued to defend this twisted hobby. “It’s kind of like…our tradition, passed down father to son.” You made eye contact with the little girl. She looked like she was just waiting for the moment to pounce on either one of you. “Of course, only one or two a year. Never enough to bring down the law. We never been that sloppy.”

The man was now standing in the middle between you and Dean. He tried to get out of his binds, but they were too tight. “Yeah, well, don’t sell yourself short.” You muttered. Your nose scrunched up when you took a small sniff from the order that was rolling off of him, you had to look away before you found yourself dry heaving at the stench. “You’re plenty sloppy.”

But he got into your personal space; he leaned down ever so slightly, letting his palms rest on his knees. “So what sweetheart, you with that pretty cop?” He asked you. You looked at him straight in the eye for a few moments before you turned your gaze away. “Are you a cop?”

“If we tell you…” Dean’s voice spoke up making the attention on him. “You promise not to make me into an ashtray?” But that little comment didn’t seem to make the man happy. He looked at one of his sons, who stepped right over and back handed Dean right across the face.

“Only reason why I don’t tell my boys take you right here and now is that there’s something I need to know.” He said, walking over towards the burning fire that was just behind the both of you.

“Yeah, how about it’s not nice to marry your sister?” Dean continued to make the sarcastic remarks that weren’t well in either of yours favor.

“Tell me…any of the cops gonna come looking for you?” He asked. Neither of you seemed to notice that he was standing with an iron rod that had been sitting the fire. The tip of it was burning a bright orange.

“Oh, eat me.” Dean grunted out. But he quickly changed his tune, still being a sarcastic prick. “No, no, no, wait—you actually might.”

But that seemed to have pushed the man towards the edge of his breaking point. He nodded for his oldest son to come forward. You didn’t have much time to fight back before the one that attacked you wrapped his grubby hands around your chin and head to keep you still, he leaned your head back slightly so you would stop struggling. You watched as the old man came forward towards you, the iron rod not far from him. Your eyes widened at what was happening. he was just dangling around the rod just inches from your face, letting the heat roll off of it.

“You think this is funny, boy?” The man asked. He was staring Dean directly in the eye. You still struggled to get out of the other man’s steel grip, but you couldn’t shake him off. “You brought this down on my family. All right. You wanna play games? We’ll play some games.” He turned his attention towards his sons, a wicked smile spread across his face. “Looks like we’re gonna have a hunt tonight after all, boys.” He looked down at Dean, the smile grew wider. “And you get to pick the animal. The boy or the cop.”

“Okay. Wait, wait, wait.” Dean tried to get the man to change his mind. “Look, nobody’s coming for me, all right? It’s just us.”

“If you don’t choose,I will.” The man threatened. To make his point, he let the rod slip out his grip so it landed on your shoulder. You couldn’t take the sensation of your skin being burned, you cried out from the pain that seeped down towards your skin. It was taking everything in you from not to cry from the things that you had been going through.

“Oh, you son of a bitch!” You screamed out at him. But the man leaned in dangerously close. Sweat rolled off your face as yours eyes widened in fear at what stood from your left eye. If you took just one inch forward, it would land directly on the point of the rod. He let it linger around it for what felt for be forever, letting the hot flames touch your skin, making everything in you panic at all the sensations that were happening to you at all once.

The man looked at Dean with a serious glare. “Next time, I’ll take her eye.”

“All right, the guy, the guy! Take the guy!” Dean finally blurted out.

A choked sob escaped your throat when the old man finally backed away from you. Your head was finally set free, you closed your eyes and tried to get yourself to calm down. “Lee,” The old man turned his attention towards his second son. He took chain from around his neck and handed it towards Lee. The key that you and Dean had been looking for dangled off it. “Go do it.” When his son grab it, the man stopped him for just one more order. “Don’t let him out, though. shoot him in the cage.”

It took you a few seconds to realize what the man had said. “What? I thought you said you were gonna hunt him.” You said in anger. “You were gonna give him a chance!”

“Lee!” The old man called out towards his son. “When you’re done with the boy and the cop,” His gaze dropped towards you. A smirk spread across his lips. “Shoot this bitch, too. We got to clean up this mess before any more cops come running out here.”

If there was any moment that you wished someone would just drop dead from a look, the man standing in front of you would be a good choice. You tried to reach for a loose end of the rope that tied your hands together, but it only made your throbbing wrist feel worse. You gritted your teeth in frustration. Never did you think that you would die in the hands of a hillbilly that got off on hunting people. The odds of getting out this alive were slim. But you still kept up hopes that some miracle would happen.

“If hurt my brother or her again, I’ll kill you. I swear.” Dean threatened. “I’ll kill you all!”

The old man didn’t seem fazed at Dean’s attempts at trying to keep himself looking strong. He got up from his chair and headed towards the open door. He looked out towards the front yard to see if his son was coming back. “Lee! The man called out. He waited a few moments for a response, but nothing happened. “Lee!” He cried out again.

When his first son wasn’t responsive towards the calls, the older man looked over at his other son. “Judd, you come with me.” The son took one more glance at you before he listened to his father and disappeared towards somewhere else in the house. “Missy, you watch them, now.”

You watched as the son came back from the hall closet with two hunting rifles. He handed one towards his father before they both stalked off Into the night. The little girl turned around and looked at Dean with a dead stare. She lifted up her small knife and began to twirl it ever so softly around his head. You looked at her for a few moments as a plan began to hatch inside your mind. It was almost fool proof. You just hoped she wasn’t a screamer when you got your hands on her.

\+ + +

  
You only broken one bone in your entire lifetime. That was when you were five years old and playing with another girl your age at the playground during recess. What was her name again? Jennifer, maybe it was Jade. It was just right after you moved away from Kansas, when you still remembered the boys and how you missed them so much. Your mother was busy with settling all of you into the new home and juggling her job as substitute teacher. Even though she had no particular experience before, she had used her skills as a hunter to forge a few documents to get the job and cash in a favor that some old family friend owed her.

She needed to find a way to put food on the table and keep a roof over your head, breaking the law wasn’t much on her guilty conscious when she was still trying to make up for the sudden move. So maybe she spent a little more on extra school clothes you didn’t need or that cute stuffed animal you smiled at while shopping in the department store. Your mother was trying to be the best that she could after she shook everything away from you. But she hadn’t been giving what you’ve been needed since you left—love and attention. So that’s why you did it.

Jade, yeah that’s what her name was, she was a mean red head that didn’t take no for an an answer when she doubled dog dared someone. When you were kids, that was something you just couldn’t back out from. Peer pressure at it’s finest innocence. It was your new friend that was challenged one day during your favorite subject; recess. Jade stomped over towards the sandbox that you and your friend were playing in, destroying the tower that you were working so hard on for your toys could have a home. Jade demanded your friend, who was a shy little thing, dared her to sneak away from the playground and head over towards the big kid park. They had all sorts of best things; bigger slides, a jungle gym and other stuff that made a kid your age envious.

Your friend looked like she had seen a ghost when she realized she was challenged by Jade to do something that no kindergartner had done before. You were quick to take her place, knowing that it was the right thing to do, and Dean said that being the oldest meant he had to look at for you. You were older than your friend by three months, you had to protect her from getting hurt. You needed to show that you cared for her and maybe she wouldn’t go away like your other two friends did.

The redhead tried to argue that you couldn’t take her place, but you didn’t care. You got right up in her face and gave her a mean stare. She huffed in a breath before the both of you went off, a few kids had distracted the aids that watched all of you so this wouldn’t happen. But here you were, marching towards the park with your nose held up in the air with confidence radiating off your face. You don’t remember why you weren’t scared looking back now, maybe it was because you were helping someone. And that’s all you really ever enter wanted to do with your life.

Jade told you the dare: you had to climb all the way up towards the top of the jungle gym, place your legs onto one of the bars and swing your body upside down like a monkey. It sounded so easy for you when you thought about it, but when you finally saw of how high they were, you were beginning to grow scared. Jade mocked your fear in a baby voice that made your blood boil in anger. So you sucked in a deep breath and got yourself right to the top of it and swung yourself down.

Everything seemed to be going well enough; you could make out the glare that Jade was giving you while almost all of your classmates were gawking in surprise. You had beat the little girl at her own game. The friend that you had been helping out started waving at you from the other side of the fence that she has her face pressed up against. That smile she had on her face was the best thing you had ever seen. It made you feel like she was your new best friend.

But your good luck ran out short when you heard someone yelling out your name. You looked to see that your mother’s upside down figure was coming towards you. She must have been on her lunch break and was checking up to see you. Quickly as you could, you tried to swing your body upwards so you could get yourself out of this mess. But you didn’t time your actions right because the next thing you knew you were landing face first into the sand with your arm to help your fall. All you heard was a loud snap and your mother now screaming your name in panic.

And that’s how you broke your arm. Everyone in your class had heard about what you done. When you came back to school after spending a week home, your cast was filled with messy scribbles of names from your classmates and few older students. Your mother was angry at what you did, but it also was something that made the both of you closer together.

“Come on. Come on.” You mumbled out to yourself. Your fingers inched for the rope that you had been fighting with to get a grip on. It was a bitch to use your wounded wrist, but you worked through the pain, using the anger as your strength to get yourself free.

Missy was small, but she was anything like her dimwit brothers, she would be quick on her feet to realize what you were trying to do when you got free. If there was some way you keep her quiet feet. long enough and stop her from running toward her father, maybe all of you could get out of this alive. Well, you wouldn’t mind if one of the hillbillies got a taste of their own medicine.

After what felt like forever, you felt the rope come into your good grip. You hid back a smile when Missy looked at you for just a few moments before she turned her attention to something else. You started to undo the knot, just slow enough to make yourself seem inconspicuous. It took a minute for you to get this horribly tied knot done. You felt a sigh of relief escaped your lips when the rope fell from your aching wrists and landed on the floor with a small thud. Now it was time to start your second plan of action.

Dean would just have to wait a few moments while you tried get Missy out of the way. You watched as she began to circle the man like he was the dead pray and she was the vulture; just waiting for the right moment to pounce on him. You sat for just a few more moments. Missy might be faster than you, but you were smarter.

When she had your back turned towards you, you took your chance. You reached up to grab her wrist that she was holding with the small dagger that she carried around. As planned, she took her other wrist and tried to take a swing at you. You simply dodged her and kicked her in the back of the knee with enough force to knock her down towards the ground. The boys had taught you that you needed to use your size for your advantage when you were going up against someone that was twice your height. Missy was smaller than you, so you knew what she was going to try and do.

The dagger fell out her grip when she fell towards the ground with a thud. She was quick to reach for the blade, but you simply kicked it across the room with your foot as you used the other one to press it against her backside. She tried to get out of your grip, but each time she struggled, you simply pressed down on her backside harder.

You had her pinned down well enough to reach over and grab the rope they had used to tie you up. Working through the pain, you grabbed both her wrists and neatly bound them together well enough so she couldn’t make a chance to escape. You stood up and dragged her up by the collar of her filthy dress. She struggled to get out, but you simply grabbed her by the arm towards a closet, making sure to press a chair against the handle, just in case she tried to take a chance to escape.

You made your way back towards the other Winchester, you didn’t know how much longer you had until the rest of the family came back. But you weren’t planning on staying to deal with the consequences of what you did to his precious daughter. You grabbed the small dagger off the floor so it would be a bit easier to cut Dean’s binds. You walked behind him and bent down so you were now at eye level with his bound wrists. Both of you worked in silence for a few moments. You were about to cut him loose when he spoke up for the first time.

“Thank you.”

You were a bit taken back by his words, they even sounded sincere. You cut through the last of the rope before you dropped the dagger back towards the floor again. Dean moved around his bruised wrists while to get up from the ground and walked over towards him. You made out the head wound on the top left of his forehead and the bloody noise that the had gotten from the punch that he had to endure. Both of you looked like you had been in a brawl between one another. You couldn’t help yourself but feel the ends of your lips tug into a small smile.

“I would patronize you for me saving your life. But since since I really don’t feel like being tonight’s meal….” Your voice trailed off towards a whisper when you heard the front porch steps begin to creak.

Dean shot up from his chair when the footsteps began to grow louder, both of you were on edge, just waiting to see who would come back alive. A sigh of relief escaped you when you saw a tall and lanky figure walk straight through the front door. It was just Sam. And by the looks of him, even though he had a few bruises around his jaw, he was in better shape that either of you.

“What the hell are you doing here?” You was the first question that came out of your mouth when you realized that Kathleen was still nowhere to be soon. You quickly corrected yourself when Sam just gave you a confused look. “Where’s Kathleen?”

“She told me to come find you two. Since you weren’t coming back and someone else decided to disappear.” Sam explained, your eyes trailed somewhere else when he looked at his brother first before dropping his gaze down towards you. “What happened to you two?”

“I think the little bastard broke my wrist. And other things.” You said, cradling your throbbing arm. Hell, every inch of your body was aching with pain. Your back was drenched with blood, your shirt was sticking towards the skin. And must be suffering from a concussion from the blow to the head that you took, because your head felt like it was about to explode. “Course, I saved your brother’s ass from being tonight’s dinner. So, you’re welcome.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Don’t get that far ahead of yourself. We wouldn't be in this mess if someone did what they were told.”

You opened your mouth to say something towards the argument, but your words died at the tip of your tongue when all of you heard the sounds of a gunshot echo in the distance. Fearing the worst, you were the first one out the front door with the boys following behind. You made it just a few feet from the door until you made out a figure that you knew well enough for it to know that it was just Kathleen. You ran down the steps and caught up with her. She was wounded with blood staining her shirt, but she seemed well enough.

“Where’s the girl?” She asked the three of you.

“Locked in the closet. What about the dad?” You questioned her back.

Kathleen was quiet for a few moments before she spoke up. “Shot, trying to escape.”

A quiet fell over the four of you when she answered. She looked over at Sam for a few moments, acting as if they both had a secret agreement of some sort. Your brows furrowed in confusion, not sure what was going on, but slowly you realized what she had done. And you couldn't say she did the wrong thing. You might have done the thing if you were in her shoes.

\+ + +

After finding your belongings and making sure that everyone was locked up, it was time to go. You trailed behind the boys with your arm wrapped up in a clean cloth that would have to do for now before any of you could take a proper look at it. All you wanted to do was clean up your wounds, take a long shower and call it a night.

“I think the car’s at the police station.” Dean said, breaking the small silence that fell between the three of you. You forgotten that you and him had hitched a ride with Kathleen, you rolled your eyes and gave him an annoyed glare while all of you continued to walk.

You made it towards the front of the house again before Kathleen’s voice stopped all of you from walking. “So…” You turned around when she began speaking up. “State police and the FBI are gonna be here within the hour. They’re gonna wanna talk to you.” She informed the three of you. A small sigh escaped your lips, but she gave you a piece of advice that you weren’t expecting from her. “I suggest that the three of you are long gone by then.”

“Thanks.” Dean said. “Listen, I don’t mean to press our luck, but we’re kind of in the middle of nowhere. Think we could catch a ride?”

“Start walking.” She simply said. “Duck if you see a squad car.”

“Sounds great to me. Thanks.” Sam smiled at the woman, you thanked her again before joining the youngest Winchester in the long walk ahead of you. It might be raining outside and it’s dark, but you were just a little while away from a warm shower and a comfortable bed. And that’s good enough for you to walk a couple of hours.

You noticed that Dean wasn't walking, you looked over your shoulder to see that he was talking to Kathleen. You and Sam stopped to see what he was going to say towards the woman.

“Listen, uh…sorry about your brother.” Dean quietly spoke.

Kathleen’s eyes glazed over with sadness, she nodded her head as a small smile of appreciation from the man’s words. “Thank you. It was really hard not knowing what happened to him. I thought it would be easier once I knew the truth. But..it isn't really.” You knew that grief was a tricky thing. She caught the sympathy stares from the three of you. Quickly composing herself, she waved you on. “Anyway, you should go.”

You looked at her one more time, a small smile tugged at the end of your lips. She tried to keep one while you made sure to say thank you before heading off towards the long journey with the boys. All of you made it out towards the windmill in silence before Dean spoke up. He looked at his little brother with a serious look.

“Don’t ever do that again.” Dean demanded.

“Do what?” Sam asked, not sure what his brother meant.

“Go missing like that.” Dean mumbled, but you could hear the distant fear in his voice when he thought about losing his brother.

A smile spread across Sam’s face. “You were worried about me.”

“All I’m saying—you vanish like that again, I’m not gonna look for you.”

“Sure you will.” You said, laughing quietly to yourself.

“I’m not.” Dean argued. You couldn't help yourself but roll your eyes.

“So, you got sidelined by a thirteen year old girl and (Y/N) saved your ass, huh?” Sam remarked, changing the subject. Your lips tugged into a smirk when you looked at the oldest Winchester.

“Aw, shut up.” He muttered out again.

“Just saying, you’re getting rusty there, kiddo.” Sam joked.

Dean chuckled to himself, finding humor in the situation himself. “Shut up.” All of you laughed at the situation that just happened. You looked back at the house just one more time before paying attention towards the muddy road.

\+ + +

Two hours. It took all of you two hours to travel from the middle of nowhere and back towards the police station where the beloved Impala was. When you finally got a chance to rest your aching body, walking all those miles seemed to have been worth it as your body sank down into the leather seats. Have they always been this comfortable or were you just exhausted? But your moment of peace was ruined by the news. You had to go to the emergency room to get checked out. Your wounds weren’t something the boys wanted to take a chance with, especially your broken wrist that seemed to be getting worse. So, all of you drove towards the hospital and filed yourselves under a false name.

Another three hours later, you were finally free to leave. Your back was stitched up and taped over with a gauze bandage. The headache that you were feeling was now completely gone after you took a coated painkiller that made everything feel just a bit better. The broken wrist that you suffered wasn’t as bad that the doctors thought it would be. But you were still forced to wear a damn cast for the next five to six weeks. You were humiliated, but you had to remind yourself of something very important, you were alive.

You and the boys finally made it back towards the motel room just after dark settled down again. It didn’t take you long to get yourself out of your dirty, blood stained clothes and head for the shower that was deeming a quite awkward task with one less hand to help wash yourself, but you managed. You reemerged from the bathroom with clean clothes and the urge to crawl back into bed and sleep for a thousand years.

You made your way towards the motel bed, ignoring the voices that were coming just from the other side of the room. Sam would just have to crash by himself tonight. There was no way in hell that you were moving from this bed. Because when you finally pressed your head against the pillow and closed your eyes, you were out quicker than you thought. Maybe it was the drugs that finally hit you, or maybe it was their conversation that you listened to every so often. It was a reminder that they were okay, all of you were safe for now.


	15. Shadow.

Serial killer or potential supernatural case? It was the question you and the boys’ mind when the Impala drove through the streets of Chicago and to the address of the most recent victim that lead the three of you here. Dean parked against the sidewalk of a busy street where the apartment building Meredith McDonnell had lived over the past year, and died after being claimed the second victim of a dastardly crime.

A week had passed since her murder and the place were no step closer to finding out who killed her along with the first victim. Which what lead the three of you here. You stepped out of the Impala with your phony looking outfits Sam insisted you needed for the undercover job for this to work. But you just felt plain stupid. You pulled on the sleeve again to keep your cast, that was still around your wrist, from being shown. It was just another constant reminder that this thing was making your life a living hell. Between the awkward itches that you wanted to scratch or how hot it gotten underneath the plaster, you were counting down the days until you could take this damn thing off.

You got out of the Impala and tugged on the sleeve of the outfit for the thousandth time, wanting to get this over with fast as possible. Sam joined you after skimming over the newspaper one last time to see if he could find anything useful. Both of you had dug into the victim’s history to see if you could learn anything while Dean talked to the police for any more information. Since there wasn’t much coming from each end, the three of you were here to inspect the apartment for yourselves.

“All right, Dean. This is the place.” Sam said. He shut the passenger’s side door before taking a quick glance over at the brick building.

“I’ve got to say that Dad and me did just fine without these stupid costumes. I feel like a high-school-drama dork.” Dean complained, as per usual. He began walking straight for the building, you and Sam followed right alongside with him. “Hey, what was that play that you did?” He turned his head towards his brother, a grin spreading across his lips when he thought about the memory. “What was it—’Our Town’? Yeah, you were good. It was cute.”

“Look, you want to pull this off or not?” Sam shoved his hands into his pockets, trying his hardest to change the subject.

“I’m just saying these outfits cost hard earned money. Okay?” Dean said. You couldn’t help yourself but roll your eyes at that lie.

“Whose?” You questioned.

“Ours. You think credit-card fraud is easy?” Dean asked you.

You shook your head while Sam laughed to himself at how his brother was acting. All of you headed inside the building to see if you could anything that could point you in the direction for a possible case. If this wasn’t what you were expecting, than Chicago had gotten itself a serial killer that would make anyone shake in their boots for the fear of their own safety. And you wouldn’t be sticking around to see if you would become the next victim, that was for sure.

\+ + +

The landlord seemed to have fell for the little act that all of you pulled on her, and the outfits seemed to have sealed the deal. She was an older woman that looked like she wasn’t in the mood to deal with any kind of shenanigans. She lead all of you upstairs and straight towards Meredith’s apartment without a word being spoken.

The deadbolt clicked open after she turned he key, allowing her to open up the front door. You were the first one to step inside while she held the door open, you inspected the place while you walked further into the apartment. Everything looked normal, but you didn’t know what laid ahead just behind the wall.

“Thanks for letting us look around.” Sam said, stepping inside the place with Dean trailing behind.

“The police said they were done with the place, so…” Her voice wandered while she followed behind Sam, who began to walk towards the other side of the apartment.

You stuck around with Dean for a moment, watching as he shut the door behind him. It didn’t take you long to realize there was at least two deadbolts and a chain, along with the alarm system as a security precaution. Either Meredith was highly paranoid woman that wanted to keep herself safe from the dangers of the city, or something was really after her.

You caught up with everyone else after you stopped observing the place, but you were only be greeted with a crime scene that you weren’t quite expecting. The white carpet that laid in the middle of the large room was covered in blood, mostly just droplets from where she must have been attacked. You took a few steps into the room while the landlord stood in the doorway, the boys stood next to the woman while they observed the place a bit more.

“You guys said you were with the alarm company?” She asked again for clarification.

“That’s right.” Dean lied.

“No offense,” The landlord said. “But your alarm is about as useful as boobs on a man.”

You stopped yourself from chuckling at her comment while the brothers looked at one another with amusement written in their facial expressions. “That’s why we’re here.” Dean explained. “To see what went wrong, to stop it from happening again.”

And with that being said, he began walking towards the other side of the room to see if he could find anything unusual. You stood next to the landlord while Sam slowly ventured off with his brother to see what he could find. You turned your head to look at her, getting ready to ask her a few questions to see if she might know anything useful.

“Now, ma’am, you found the body?” You asked her.

“Yeah.” She said, nodding her head.

“Right after it happened?” You continued.

“No, a few days later.” The landlord explained. She took a few steps forward while she continued talking. The boys each took a window to take a peaked around to look for any signs of forced entry. “Meredith’s work called. She hadn’t showed up. I knocked on her door. That’s when I noticed…the smell.”

“Any windows open? Any signs of a break-in?” Dean asked the woman. He looked over his shoulder for just a moment before looking back at the window once more.

“Windows were locked. Front door was bolted. Chain was on the door.” She said. “We had to cut it to get in.”

“And the alarm was still on?” He questioned, twirling his finger around the room as he walked up towards the two of you.

“Like I said,” The woman remarked. “Bang up job your company is doing.”

“Did you see any overturned furniture, broken glass, signs of a struggle?” He continued questioning her. But the options of what could make a reasonable explanation of what happened to the woman slowly begin to grow shorter.

“Everything was in perfection condition.” Your gaze went back towards the woman when her voice slowly trailed off, speaking up again in a softer tone. “Except Meredith.”

“Well, what condition was Meredith in?” Sam asked. He turned himself away from the window, shutting the curtain, obviously something she said had sparked more curiosity to find out what happened to the young woman.

“Meredith was all over, in pieces.” She gestured towards the pool of blood that was still on the wooden floors. Dean had crouched down so he could take a closer look at its state while observing a few vents he’d spotted. “The guy who killed her must have been a whack job. But I tell you, if I didn’t know any better, I’d have said a wild animal did it.”

You couldn’t help yourself but let out a breath when you heard her speak of such an accusation. It seemed that whenever someone brought up a suspicious animal attack, it never really was one. Dean got up from the ground, eyeing you and Sam, holding the same amount of suspicion that seemed to have fallen around the room after you heard the other side of the story.

“Ma’am, you mind if we take some time, give this place a once-over?” Sam asked, giving a polite smile for added effect.

“Go right ahead. Knock yourself out.”

The landlord didn’t waste another moment to get herself out of the apartment, leaving all three of you alone to do some needed investigating. You crossed your arms over your chest and began to look around the room to see if there was any objects that seemed out of place.

The sounds of the toolbox being opened and the chatter of the brothers could be heard from behind you. Both of them were crouched down on the floor, gathering the tools to see if there was any hidden traces that could lead towards a possible explanation of what killed Meredith, and viciously, from the psychical evidence that you had seen.

“So the killer walks in and out of the apartment—no weapons, no prints, nothing.” You said, stopping at one of the windows to take a peek outside, all you saw was the busy streets below.

“I’m telling you guys, the minute that I found that article, I knew this was our kind of gig.” Sam said.

There was no denying his obsession with this strange case had peaked your interest. But sometimes people were tricky, finding out different ways to crack alarm systems and picking locks without the person finding out. You made a mental note to amp up the security in your home when the I got the chance. You couldn’t be too cautious these days, especially with what happened not too long ago.

“I think I agree with you.” Dean mumbled. You turned your head to see that the EMF reader was going off. That was never a good sign.

“So, you talked to the cops?” You asked Dean, changing the subject towards the case again. Dean and Sam got up from the floor, each taking a different side of the room to cover more ground.

“Uh, yeah, I spoke to Amy—a, uh, charming, perky officer of the law.” He said. Just hearing the smirk in his voice made you want to punch him. You closed your eyes, dreading for what was going to come slipping out of his mouth next.

“What did you find out?” Sam asked.

“Well, she’s a Sagittarius. She loves tequila. I mean…whew.” Dean rambled on. Sam looked over his shoulder, both of you giving one another looks, obviously becoming annoyed. But the oldest just kept going on about this Amazing Amy. “Oh, and she’s got this little tattoo—”

“Dean!” You yelled at him, cutting the man off before things could get awkward for you.

“What?” He yelled back. But when he noticed your dirty glare and Sam’s annoyed face, he quickly got himself back towards explaining what he had learned. “Yeah. Nothing we don’t already know, except for one thing they’re keeping out of the papers. Meredith’s heart was missing.”

You and Sam stopped what you were doing, taken back by the gruesome detail that you were hearing for the first time. “Her heart?” Sam asked, his tone of voice was as if he wasn’t sure what he just heard was true.

“Yeah, her heart.” Dean muttered. He turned around to look at the reader one more time before heading back towards the both of you. “So, what do you think did it to her?”

“The landlady said it looked like an animal attack.” Sam said, taking a few steps forward so he was near his brother.

“Maybe it was. Werewolf?” You asked.

“Not a werewolf. The lunar cycle’s not right.” Sam corrected you. “If it was a creature, it would have left some kind of trace. It was probably a spirit.”

But Dean wasn’t paying attention towards what his brother was saying, his eyes were focused on the carpet with the blood stains. He tilted his head towards the side and began to observe the pattern for a few moments before speaking up. “Hmm.” He mumbled to himself. “See if either of you can find any masking tape around.”

You weren’t sure what he was getting at, but you and Sam didn’t question his request. You scavenged around the place until you found a roll of black duct tape in one of the kitchen drawers. Dean grabbed it out of your hands after you came back, quickly going to work. He got on his knees and began to pull of rather large sections of tape before laying them on the carpet, as if he was trying to play a game of connect the dots, but with the droplets of blood.

You stood next to Sam, watching as the oldest Winchester continued for another few moments before getting up and inspecting his own work. It was a circle with two lines that slanted off towards another line. You looked at the work, trying to figure out if you had seen it before, but nothing was coming towards your mind.

“You guys ever see that symbol before?” You asked the brothers.

“Never.” Dean said.

“Me, either.” Sam mumbled.

All three of you looked at one another for a few moments, knowing that there might be something more towards this than you previously thought. You needed to figure it out before this invisible killer decides to take another victim.

\+ + +

Ten minutes, the man said he was going to be in there for ten minutes. You leaned yourself against the car with your foot tapping against the pavement. Frustration was growing inside your veins when you looked over at the bar again; people were stepping outside of the bar every few seconds, but none of them were Dean freakin’ Winchester. He left you and his brother outside for just a few minutes so he could find some more information about Meredith. You looked down at your watch again, a sigh escaped your lips.

“He’s been in there for a half n’ hour.” You grumbled out, dropping your hand back towards your side. You tapped harder against the ground. “He’s probably flirting with some bartender, I bet you.”

Expecting some sort of similar response from Sam, you were caught off guard when the other Winchester mumbled something that sounded like a yeah. You looked over to see that he was at it again; his nose was buried in his father’s journal with the cut out newspaper articles lying on the hood. You rolled your eyes at his behavior, there was something that was making him too obsessed with this case for your own comfort.

You pushed your body off the car and headed over towards him, a hand reaching out to grab the journal from his hands. You watched him quickly go from concentration towards confusion. You bit your bottom lip to keep a smiling from across your face again. Hiding the journal behind your back, it didn’t take him long to realize what you had done.

“Give it back.” He said, his hand reaching out for the journal. You shook your head, letting a smile spread across your lips. “Come on, Y/N. I’m not in the mood.”

“You know what I’m not in the mood for? Waiting for your stupid brother.” You said, taking a few steps backwards. You turned around and pressed the journal towards your chest, walking towards the bar entrance. “Come along, nerd. You can get back your father’s journal when you help me get your idiot brother out of this place. I wanna go back to the motel.”

“Look who’s calling the kettle black.” Sam mumbled underneath his breath, but you caught it.

You looked over your shoulder to give him a dirty look. “Shut up. I have more important things to do than waste my time while Dean flirts the night away with some girl and you drive yourself insane while looking at this journal.”

“When’s the last time you were even on a date?” You stopped on the sidewalk at his question, it took a few moments for you to try to figure out the answer. A chuckle rang inside your ears when you remained quiet for longer than he expected.

“Shut up.” You repeated again. “Just hurry up, I’m not in the mood.”

Both of you headed inside the bar, dodging a few bodies that were walking right past you. You tried to look through the crowd of bodies while you made through it, Sam following behind. It didn’t take you long to find the other brother. He was currently leaning himself against the bar with a flirtatious smile spread across that face of his with a pretty brunette on the other side. And it looked like it was going to be a while for you and Sam.

Spotting a table in the break of bodies, you went right for it. You took a seat and let the journal sit on top of the wood. Sam grabbed it and sat right next to you. He busied himself with taking another peak at the newspaper article while you looked around the place to see that the group of people mostly varied around your age. Rock music played in the background while there was a game of pool being played just on the other side of the bar. You let out a sigh of relief when you saw a very familiar finally head towards the both of you.

“I talked to the bartender.” Dean said, taking a seat right across from Sam.

“Did you get anything, besides her number?” You asked. Your eyes drifted towards the cocktail napkin that was pressed underneath his palm.

“Dude, I’m a professional. I’m offended that you would think that.” Dean said. You rolled your eyes while Sam just nodded his head, knowing that the man was lying. It didn’t take him very long to break out into a grin at his accomplishment, he held up the napkin to show his brother. “All right.”

“You mind doing a little bit of thinking with your upstairs brain, Dean?” You questioned, breaking him out of his thoughts, once again.

“Hmm? There’s nothing to find out. Meredith worked here. She waited tables. Everyone here is her friend. Everyone says she’s normal. She didn’t do or say anything weird before she died.” Dean explained, but that wasn’t quite good information for any of you to work with. “What about the symbol? Did either of you find anything?”

“Nope. Nothing.” Sam admitted. “It wasn’t in Dad’s journal or any of the usual books. We just have to dig a little deeper, I guess.”

“There was a first victim, right, before Meredith?” Dean asked. He slightly crumpled up the napkin before focusing his attention again on the case.

“Right, yeah, his name was…” You leaned over and grabbed the other newspaper article that Sam clipped out before. You observed it for a few moments before finding the details again, you handed it over towards Dean so he could take a look at it himself. “His name was Ben Swardstorm. Last month he was found mutilated in his townhouse. Same deal. Doors were locked. The alarm was on.”

“Is there any connection between them?” Dean asked as he overlooked the article.

“Nothing that I could tell.” You said. “Ben was a banker. Meredith was a waitress. They never met, never knew anyone in common. They were practically from different worlds.”

“So, the only successful intel we scored is the bartender’s number.” Dean said, a cocky smirk spread across his face. You rolled your eyes at him. But it seemed that Sam wasn’t paying attention towards what his brother was saying. You turned your head to see that the youngest Winchester was leaning over towards the side, trying to get a clear vision of something from across the room. Dean looked over his shoulder to see what his brother was staring at, when he couldn’t find it, he looked back at the man.

“What?”

But Sam didn’t say anything, he just got up from his seat and went directly towards what he was looking at. You and Dean looked at one another for a few moments, not sure what had gotten into him. Leaning back in your seat, you watched as he just went off. “Sam.” You called out his name, but he didn’t he turn around to look at you, he just kept going until he disappeared from sight.

You and Dean stayed around for a few moments, trying your hardest not to snoop on the conversation. But you found yourself getting out of your seat, walking directly towards the place where Sam had went off too. When you realized that Dean wasn’t coming along like planned, you headed back over and grabbed him by the back of his jacket, yanking him in the direction.

“Hey! What are you doing?” He asked, obviously not very happy at what you were doing to him.

“I think Sammy’s talking to a girl. I wanna see what they’re discussing.” You said, a small smile spread across your face. You were looking out for the guy, yeah that was it. Of course, your curiosity always got the best of you and made you want to snoop around where you didn’t always belong.

Both of you walked over ever so silently, allowing yourselves to hear part of the conversation they were having. You laid eyes on a woman that looked to be no older than you, she had short blonde hair and a grin spread across her face while her and Sam chatted away. You crossed your arms over your chest and stood next to Dean, hearing their conversation continue.

“What about you, Meg? I thought you were going to California.” You heard Sam say.

“Oh, I did. I came. I saw. I conquered.” The woman named Meg said. “Oh, and I met what’s his name—Something Michael Murray—at a bar.”

“Who?” Sam asked, not sure of who she was talking about.

“It doesn’t matter.” She said, smiling again at him. “Anyway, the whole scene got old, so I’m living here for a while.”

Dean cleared his throat, hoping that the attention would on him yet again, but the conversation continued as if they didn’t know either one of you were standing here. “You’re from Chicago?” Sam asked.

“No, Massachusetts—Andover.” She said. “Gosh, Sam, what are the odds we’d run into each other again?”

“I know. I thought I’d never see you again.” Sam admitted, a smile spreading across his face.

“Well, I’m glad you were wrong.” Meg said. You could immediately tell the flirtation lining in her voice, and it seemed that Dean could sense it took when he cleared his throat, yet again—and louder this time. “Dude, cover your mouth.” She looked over at Dean, saying it in a rather rude tone. You furrowed your eyebrows at her, becoming slightly annoyed with her actions.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, Meg. This is, um—my brother, Dean. And that’s my friend, Y/N.” Sam finally introduced you two. You smiled at her when she turned her gaze towards the both of you.

Her face jumped into surprise, as if she was remembering Sam’s brother, and not you. Meg pointed a finger at Dean, her attention was now focused on the youngest Winchester again. “This is Dean?” She asked.

“So you’ve heard of me?” Dean asked. His signature smile spread across his lips while his voice turned into a flirtatious one. But it seemed that she wasn’t leading in the direction that he was expecting, neither were you.

“Oh, yeah, I heard of you.” She said, nodding her head. Her voice changed into a hard one, looking at Dean as if he just slapped her right across the face. “Nice—the way that you treat brother like luggage.”

Dean started nodding his head himself, but his face quickly dropped into confusion after processing what she had said to him. “Sorry?” He asked.

“Why don’t you let him do what he wants to do?” Meg questioned him. You looked at her with something that was a mix between confusion and anger. “Stop dragging him across God’s green earth.”

“Meg, it’s alright.” Sam calm the woman down. A smile was still spread across his face, but Dean looked hurt at what Meg had said about him. And it looked like she was still ready for a second round.

You turned your gaze away from the three of them, the tension in the air was beginning to thicken. You pressed your lips together and whistled. “Okay. Awkward.” You mumbled. You looked back at Dean, trying to get him away from the woman that was stepping out of her place, even you weren’t that bold to say something like that to him. “Hey, do you mind getting me a drink?” You asked, turning around while heading towards the bar, him following behind.

You watched as he gave one fake smile before his face dropped into annoyance. You stood behind while Dean headed up towards the bar, he looked over at the two before focusing on getting the both of you some needed alcohol. You were just at perfect length away from them to continue eavesdropping in the conversation to see what else this Meg had to say about Dean.

“Sam, I’m sorry.” Meg apologized, but what came out her mouth next didn’t seem very nice. “It’s just, the way you told me he treats you, if it were me, I’d kill him.”

“It’s all right. He means well.” Was the last thing that you heard before your attention was ripped away from you when someone was calling your name.

You turned around to see that Dean was standing in front of you with the drink that you had requested. You grabbed it, thanking him before taking a sip of the cold beverage. Both of you stayed quiet for a few moments. You were focused on nursing your drink while you watched the tipsy people wander around the bar, enjoying the music that pumped through the speakers. You were almost losing yourself into a concentration, that was until Dean mumbled something out.

“Oh, you’ve got to be freaking kidding me.”

You turned your head to see that he was staring at someone from across the room. Furrowing your eyebrows, you looked over again, wondering what was getting him upset again. You looked around the place until your eyes locked with a pair of very familiar blue ones. He was standing in the middle of Sam and Meg, smiling away. When he caught your attention, his smile only grew wider in happiness.

You found yourself walking over towards the group, leaving Dean behind to fend for himself. He could always talk towards that bartender again, he would be fine by himself for a while. You felt a smile spread across your face when you realized that, by some miracle, Josh was here again.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you’re starting to stalk me.” You teased, stopping right next to Sam, but all of your attention was focused on the second man. Your smile was beginning to grow wider when Josh let out a chuckle at your playful joke.

“Y/N was alway the funny one growing up. I’m not as quick on my toes as she is.” Josh turned his head towards Meg, talking to her as if they were life-long friends.

You thought that Josh was over to say hello to Sam, even though the both of them had left on the wrong foot. Josh was always the one who was trying to look for the good in people, no matter their hostile attitude. Which you were still trying to figure out why Sam treated the man with disrespect.

You looked at him with a curious glance, you pointed towards her. “You two know each other?” You couldn’t help yourself but ask the question that was beginning to burn in the back of your mind. It slipped out before you could have had a chance to let it bury itself away.

“Oh! We only met tonight. It seems that we both are complete klutz. I accidentally spilled my beer on her. One thing lead to another and we’re laughing over old stories, what, two hours ago?” Josh asked Meg. You couldn’t smell the familiar aroma coming off her shirt, and it looked like there wasn’t any stains from the spill. “Yeah, it seems that we have a lot in common.”

“Right.” You said, focusing your attention back on the man after a small pause fell between all of you. You felt yourself poking a finger into the opening part of your cast when you felt an itch beginning to form again. It seemed that it was another conversation starter for the four of you.

“Oh, my. What happened to you?” You looked up to see Meg’s lingering eyes on your cast. That seemed a rather bold question to be asking someone she just met. But it seemed that this woman just had a way of making you answer it.

“Accident.” You lied, poking a finger to scratch at the skin that was beginning to grow worse from the lack of attention. “I tripped down the stairs at my house and broke my wrist.”

“Hmm.” She hummed to herself. You swore you could have seen a smirk spread across her lips, maybe it was because she was now focusing her attention on Sam. It seemed that she had something for him with the flirtatious tone she kept using on him.

But your attention was ripped away when you felt a hand wrap around your shoulder. You turned your head to see that Josh was staring at you now, that megawatt smile of his was making the place glow. You returned the smile, slowly losing interest in the conversation that the other two were having.

“It’s nice to see you again, Y/N.” Josh said. You nodded your head. His blue eyes dropped towards his drink, a bashful smile spreading across his lips before he spoke up again. “Look, I don’t know if this weird or anything, but I was wondering if I could steal you for a few hours tonight. Just to catch up on a few things, you know, like the old days.”

“I don’t know.” You said, smiling yourself. You still had a lot of work to do when you got back to the motel, but…it seemed that Sam was right. When was the last time you hung out with someone who’s last name wasn’t Winchester? “I’ll see what I can do. But I can’t make any promises.”

You looked over your shoulder to see that Meg or Sam were in sight. That was your que to wrap up the conversation and get the hell out of here before it gave another reason for Dean to continue being a grump. You looked back at the man, a small smile spreading across your lips.

“Look, I gotta get going.” You said, pointing towards the door with your thumb. “Maybe we’ll meet up or something. But right now, things are kind of crazy for me…”

“I see.” Josh said, nodding his head in agreement. “Maybe we’ll bump into one another again. Fate has a way of bringing us closer together, no matter what.”

You forced a smile at that cheesy way of trying to flirt with you. For some odd reason, there was something off about him that wasn’t making you feel right about sticking around. Maybe it was just the lack of sleep that you had been getting or the withdrawal from the painkillers, but you weren’t feeling quite like yourself all of a sudden.

You waved towards Josh before making a quick turn around and making an escape for the front door. But before you had a chance to step outside, you realized that you had forgot something very important, your freaking jacket.

Grumbling something underneath your breath, you made your way through the crowd of people before you made it back towards the table that you previously was sitting at. You grabbed your jacket from the back of your chair and slipped it on yourself. All while that feeling was slowly starting to grow stronger, that paranoia. It felt like someone was watching you.

Looking over your shoulder, you glanced around to see if there was anyone that was staring off into space in your direction. You were falling short of keeping your suspicions alive, but that was until you saw a familiar face observing each action that you took.

You felt your face scrunch up in confusion at what you were seeing, maybe it was the bad lighting in this place. You could spot then from a mile away. Did she? You leaned in ever so slightly, your stomach pressed itself against the table. But before you had a chance to take a closer look, she turned her head and looked back at Josh.

You let out a breath and tried to calm yourself down. It wasn’t real. This was just some stranger than Sam met months ago. Nothing more, nothing less.

It would be silly to think that Meg could be possessed, that just didn’t seem to add up right in your head. Maybe those weren’t black eyes that you were seeing, it was probably due towards the horrible lighting in the bar. You quickly turned around and went straight for the door, not bothering to see if your accusations would come true.

\+ + +

Clutching your jacket around your body, but you stepped out of the bar, managing to block yourself from a drunk crowd of three. You politely smiled while you brushed past them, your eyes drifting around the nighttime scene to see where the brothers could have wandered around towards. Just as you were about to call it quits on the search, a hand pressed itself against your shoulder. As if you were tense from before, you suddenly let out a sharp gasp from the touch you weren’t expecting. You cautiously looked over your shoulder, wondering if it was someone that you were dreading to make eye contact again with, but to your happiness it was just Sam.

Sam seemed to have noticed your odd behavior as he gave you a concerned look, “Hey, you okay?”

You debated with yourself to tell him the truth about what you saw in the bar. After all, both of you had been witnessing some pretty strange sights over the past year. But what the hell were you going to say? “Not really. I’m thinking your new bestie is really a demon! But I can’t be too sure because the place in there was dark as hell. Just wanted to give you a heads up!

“Nothing.” You lied, forcing a sincere smile. Brushing off his touch, you started to make your way to the car, the urge to go back to the motel was stronger than ever.

It seemed that you weren’t the only one that was feeling a bad vibe from this Meg girl. Dean was storming behind you, getting ready to start a fight with his brother about the way that she treated him. You couldn’t blame him for how Meg decided to be bold and lash out on the older man. But Dean being himself, it always ended up in the direction that dealt with attraction.

“Who the hell was she?” Dean questioned. You looked over your shoulder to see that he was just a few steps ahead of his brother, but the glare that he held wasn’t too far from stretching across his face. He shoved the journal inside his jacket while he waited for his brother’s answer.

“I don’t really know. I only met her once.” Sam admitted. “Meeting up with her again? I don’t know, man. It’s weird.”

Your ears perked up at what Sam had said. Maybe you weren’t the only one that was getting a weird vibe from this woman. But Dean was quick to continue with the argument. “What was she saying—I treat you like luggage. Were you bitching about me to some chick?”

“Look, I’m sorry, Dean.” Sam apologized. “It was when we had that huge fight when I was in the bus stop in Indiana.”

“Is there any truth to what she’s saying?” Dean questioned the man. You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms over your chest when you heard them going at it, yet again. “Am I keeping you against your will, Sam?”

“No, of course not.” Sam argued. He stopped at the edge of the sidewalk while Dean went for the Impala. “Now, would you just listen?”

“What?!” He grumbled out. Dean stopped in his tracks, turning around so he was now staring at his brother with an annoyed look.

“I think there’s something strange going on here, Dean.” Sam said, slowly as if he was thinking someone was listening in on their conversation.

“Tell me about it. She wasn’t even that into me.” Dean said. Your face scrunched up slightly from his way of thinking. You should have gotten used to it by now, but he always found a new way to annoy you.

“No, man, I mean, like our kind of strange. Maybe even a lead.” Sam suggested.

“Why do you say that?” You asked, trying to sound curious.

“I met Meg weeks ago literally on the side of the road. Now I run into her in some random Chicago bar—the same car where a waitress was slaughtered by something Supernatural. You don’t think it’s weird?” Sam questioned.

“It happens.” Dean said, shrugging it off as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“Well, yeah, it happens, but not to us.” Sam said. “Look, I could be wrong. I’m just saying there’s something about this girl that I can’t quite put my finger on.”

“But I bet you’d like to. But maybe she’s not a suspect. Maybe you got a thing for her, huh?” Dean said, a small smirk tugging at the ends of his lips. He tapped a finger against his skull while he continued talking. “You’re thinking too much with your upstairs brain, huh?”

“Dean, please.” You muttered. You gave him a disgusted look at how he was talking. This wasn’t something you weren’t in the mood for.

“Do me a favor. Check to see if there’s a Meg Masters from Massachusetts and see if you can’t dig anything up on that symbol.” Sam said. You nodded your head and mocked a military salute for his request.

“What are you going to do?” Dean asked, annoyance clear in his voice when he realized that he was stuck doing research with you.

“I’m gonna watch Meg.” Sam said.

“Yeah.” Dean chuckled out, grinning to himself like an idiot when he started to think of a few scenarios that were far off from what his little brother was planning to do.

“I just want to see what’s what.” Sam simply said.

“All right, you little pervert.” You couldn’t help yourself say. Dodging a look from Sam, you began walking back towards the motel with Dean on the back of your heels.

\+ + +

You sat at the table with your laptop open and a notebook resting on your writing hand side, the pen you were holding tapped against the scribbled pages. There were a few different browsers open after doing a quick search for this Meg Masters. She checked out. That was one thing you could cross off the list. But you were still having trouble figuring out what this symbol was.

Nothing was coming to mind of where you might have seen this before, or where you could even figure out a possible lead to start off with. The internet wasn't giving you much luck, either. You ran your fingers through your hair in frustration at the wall you were hitting. This wasn’t like you. Almost always you could find the answer you were looking for. Lucky for you Dean was actually being somewhat helpful helpful tonight.

Your eyes tore themselves away from the notebook to see that he was on the phone, talking away towards one of the family’s reliable sources. Dean was carrying around a notepad of his own, and while he talked to Caleb, he walked over to you and dropped down towards the table. His finger tapped down on the paper, gesturing for you to start reading on what he learned himself. You looked down to see most of what you were skimming was gibberish and scribbles. You furrowed your brow slightly in annoyance. But you knew it was better than what you had come up with over the past hour of research.

You read up on what you could understand, mostly what popped out towards you made your stomach twist into knots. Demons. And they weren’t the kind that you had dealt with before; these were older, vicious monsters that fed off of animistic behavior. This was something that you wanted to be far away from if this is what the boys were up against. You had seen a lot and killed enough monsters to make yourself feel almost able to not flinch. But demons...they were something that still made a shiver run up your spine.

Dean broke you from your concentration on the notes when he ended the call and plopped himself down to occupy the chair next to yours. He grabbed your laptop and skimmed the results of this Meg Masters, you leaned down further so you could read the notes. You heard a few clicks from the mousepad before you heard a sigh escape Dean’s mouth, you rolled your eyes.

“Let it go.”

“But, I don’t get it—”

“Dean,” You looked up from the notes to give him an annoyed look. “When are you gonna realize not every chick you meet with a brain is going to be into you? It’s just a fact of life.”

“Then how come you’re not with that Josh kid? He seems to be pretty into you. Kind of like a puppy, the way he follows you around.” Dean said. His tone of voice was a cross between sarcasm and protectiveness. Kind of like how an older brother discovered a sister’s high school crush. It was all for torment.

You stopped in your actions, a heat began to creep up from your neck when you thought about him. Bending your head down, you let your hair fall to your face, hoping it would cover up your skin from showing the redness that growing with each passing second. You swore Dean was getting off on this. Your eyes trailed over towards the phone, making an idea sparked inside your mind.

“Why don’t you call Sam, tell him what we found out.” You said, looking back up at Dean. “Give your mouth something useful to do while it runs.”

Dean mocked your tone, pulling up the yellow pages again before he reached for his cell phone and punched in his brother’s number. You grabbed the computer back from him, debating with yourself to poke around a bit more on these special creatures or possibly just call it a night, but your attention slowly wandered towards the brothers and their conversation.

“You’re lurking outside that poor girl’s apartment, aren’t you?” Dean asked. You shook your head, pulling up a new browser before researching more information on these creatures. You could multitask, after all.

“No.” Sam scoffed, laughing off the accusations. You and Dean looked at one another for a few moments, knowing well enough that he was lying, and sure enough, he was. “Yes.”

“You’ve got a funny way of showing your affection.” Dean remarked.

“You or Y/N find anything on her or what?” Sam questioned, changing the subject.

“There’s a Meg Masters in the Andover phone book. Y/N even pulled up her high school photo.” Dean said. “Now, look, why don’t you go knock on her door and invite her to a poetry reading or whatever it is that you do, huh?”

You gave Dean a look, shaking your head at the horrible advice he was giving his brother. “What about the symbol? Any luck?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, that I did have some luck with. Turns out it’s zoroastrian.” Dean explained. He had grabbed the notebook with all his scribbles while he told his brother the information that he had previously learned. “Very, very old school. Like, two thousand years before Christ. It’s a sigil for a daeva.”

“What the hell is a daeva?”

“It translates to ‘demon of darkness.’—zoroastrian demons. And they’re savage, animalistic, nasty attitudes. Kind of like demonic pit bulls.” He continued explaining.

“How did you figure that out? Y/N help you?” Sam asked. You felt your lips twitch into smile when the other brother rolled his eyes at that accusation.

“You don’t have a corner on paper chasing around here.” Dean muttered.

“Name the last book you read.”

Dean kept quiet, you laughed to yourself before he flashed you an annoyed glare. You bit your bottom lip and tried to focus yourself on your own research. “I called Dad’s friend Caleb. He told me, all right.” He admitted that much to his brother. “Anyway, here’s the thing. These daevas, they have to be summoned.”

“So someone’s controlling it?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. And from what I gather, it’s pretty risky business, too. These suckers tend to bite the hand that feed them…and the arms and the torsos.” Dean said.

“What do they look like?” Sam wondered.

“Nobody’s seen them for a couple of millennia. Summoning a demon that ancient, someone really knows their stuff.” Dean said. “I think we’ve got a major player in town.” Dean explained.

What a comforting thought, all you could picture now was someone’s body being torn apart after summoning this monster. There wasn’t much left of them when they were done with the poor person. And the fact that some wannabe satanist controlling a very powerful demon wasn’t something that you wanted to add into the mix.

“Why don’t you go give that girl a private strip-o-gram?” Dean suggested, quickly changing the subject into an annoying one.

“Bite me.” Sam muttered on the other line.

“Bite her. Don’t leave teeth marks, though.” Dean suggested. You tried kicking him underneath the table, but he quickly caught on towards your actions and continued. But the line went dead after that. “Sam? Are you—”

Dean looked at his phone for a few moments, but he shut it afterwards and threw it towards the table. You chuckled to yourself, wondering what else he was expecting to happen. Keeping your focus on the computer, you had ventured off the topic of searching creatures and decided to do a bit more of a background check on Meg You pulled up the Illinois phone book and typed her name into the search bar, trying to see where she lived. After pressing enter, you waited a few moments, but what came up made your face scrunch up in confusion.

No Results Found.

Thinking that you typed her name wrong, you highlighted the words and tried again. You pressed enter after typing her name again this time. A few seconds later…and the same result popped up. Nothing. You thought she said she was living here for a while, so why wasn’t her name coming up here?

Biting your bottom lip, you debated with yourself of getting out of the motel for a while and poking around the city. Look for Sam while he’s stalking Meg, you just wanted to make sure he wasn’t getting himself over his head. It seemed like a stupid idea in the back of your mind, but it felt right to you when you debated around with it for a few moments.

A fake yawn escaped your lips, you closed your laptop and got up from the chair. “I’m gonna call it a day.” You lied to Dean. “Good night.”

“Night.” He muttered, not even bothering to look up from the notes that he was still reading.

You took the distraction as quick way to get yourself out of the motel room and to make your escape before Dean could figure out what you were doing. You made sure your cell phone and room key were safely in your pockets before you headed out into the night. Deciding to stalk your best friend in the middle of the night was a bit of a strange decision.But you knew it was something that would help you sleep a bit better tonight knowing that this Meg was really just a normal woman. But everyone has secrets in which you don’t always expect to find.

\+ + +

Chicago was a big city, that was for sure. You had been venturing around the place for a half n’ hour now, staring at the bar again and slowly trying to figure out the nearest set of apartments that someone would choose to live in. It was like finding a needle in a haystack, but you found the Impala. It was parked against a sidewalk just across from the apartment building that was a ten minute walk from the bar. He was sitting there, his eyes adjusted towards the only upstairs window with the light on. Your attention slowly went up towards the sight, your eyes widened a bit. He was getting quite a little show, and it was gonna end before anything could get a bit more scandalous for your personal taste.

Quietly, you walked over towards the passenger side of the car and bent down. Sam didn’t even seem to hear your footsteps when they hit the puddles. You hissed something in a mocking tone that could be taken as disgust. “Pervert.”

You couldn’t help yourself but let a chuckle escape your mouth when you watched his body jump nearly a few inches from the seat. He must have been so interested in watching Meg he didn’t seem to even notice your lingering body. Ignoring his glare, you opened up the car door and slid yourself inside, sitting right across from him.

“So,” You leaned against the seat and looked at him with a smirk. “You’re a Peeping Tom now? Sure have a weird way of showing your affection to pretty girls. Do you want me to leave you alone for a while?” You suggested, wiggling your eyebrows with a playful smirk to add to the teasing.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Sam questioned. You shrugged your shoulders, leaning yourself down so you could see Meg a bit better. The light was still on, but she was in a different part of the room now. “I thought you were supposed to be back at the motel, Y/N.”

“Hey, I’m older than you. Shouldn’t I be the one telling you what to do?” You retorted. Sam rolled his eyes, his gaze slowly lingering back towards the apartment. But you weren’t done teasing him, you could see why Dean did it to his brother all the time. “Looks like Sweet Sammy has a thing for the feisty ones. I’m sure she’s the kind of girl that keeps you guessing what she’s gonna do next…”

Sam looked away from the window, a glare was beginning to harden on his face when you continued to talk. You laughed, shaking your head. He was such an easy target to pick on. You leaned over the seat again, quick to notice that the lights were off in the room. She must be heading out again.

“Looks like you can make your move, tiger. She’s heading this—”

Before you could finish your sentence, Sam’s hand pressed against your backside making you awkwardly bend down in your seat. You adjusted your body so his knee wasn’t pressed against your face. He thrown his body against the passengers seat. You let out a grunt of annoyance. Either Sam was being shy or he really didn’t want to be seen by this girl.

“You’re so weird.” You muttered.

“Shhh!” He hissed at you.

You mocked his tone, but fell silent at his request just seconds later when you heard footsteps against the pavement. Both of you went still when a male voice spoke up and the walking stopped for just a moment. You couldn’t make out what they were saying, but you could make out the voice as someone very familiar. Your brows furrowed in confusion, it sounded eerily familiar to Josh’s.

Ever so slowly, you leaned yourself against the door so your nose was pressed against the handle while the half of your head was peeking out from the open window. You saw them standing there with their backs turned to you. Josh and Meg were discussing something, but they were acting as if they had known one another for more than just a few hours. It was like they had been friends for years.

“So,” You turned your head to look at Sam. He was now leaning up, observing the two while they headed down the sidewalk. “I think this just became my problem, foo.”

\+ + +

With a little bit of convincing, Sam decided you were allowed to tag along for what the new friends were up to. You had a feeling it wasn’t for another round at the bar from the direction they were heading. You and Sam had been following them for a good fifteen minutes now, but making sure to keep yourselves a good distance away and hiding when the opportunity called for it. You were heading down the sidewalk, thinking that you were close on getting where they were going. But it seemed that one of them was beginning to pick up on the suspicion that they were being followed, Sam noticed it before either one of you could be caught.

Sam made a beeline for the abandoned alley was on your left; he yanked you on your arm for you to follow him. You managed to catch yourself from the forceful tug. You heard the footsteps stop for a few moments. Your gaze quickly went up towards Sam’s, suddenly fearing that you were caught. But just a few seconds later, you heard the footsteps begin again before the sounds of a door being opened. Everything soon went quiet again after the metal door slammed shut. It was safe to say that both of you were alone again.

“What the hell is going on?” You blurted out in confusion. None of this was making sense to you. “If they’re strangers, then why did we just follow them to an abandoned part of town?”

“Remember when I said this was strange coincidence about meeting Meg again?” Sam asked. You nodded your head. “Hasn’t it ever occurred the same for Josh?”

“What are you trying to get at?” You questioned. None of this was connecting inside your head the way that it was for him.

“Josh was there when your house got broken into. And now he’s back again when we’re dealing with the same thing?” Sam said.

“What, are you suggesting he summons psycho demons for fun?” You asked, your tone harder than you had expected. “He was in Ohio, too. Maybe everything that’s been happening is just an innocent coincidence, Sam.”

But he was still hooked on the idea that something weird was happening, after all. You felt a sigh escape your lips when you watched as he didn’t saying else to you. He just walked off, shoving his hands inside his pockets, acting nonchalant about this entire situation. You counted down in your head, trying to make a decision to either stay here or follow him. He was chasing her and you were following him. Might as well keep up with the trend.

You quietly walked out of the alley after scoping around the place to see if the coast was clear from anyone. There was no one around except for yourself. Taking it as a chance, you began walking again, your attention went towards the door that seemed to be covered with a collage of the same posters. You headed up and swung open the door before stepping side.

The interior of the building was dark and cold. You wandered around the place until you saw a staircase just a few feet from where you were standing. You went straight for if, thinking that’s where Sam must have headed toward. You made it up the stairs and placed your hand on the doorknob. Twisting it around a few times, a frustrated sigh escaped your lips when you realized it was locked.

You headed back down the steps and began thinking of a different route that Sam could have taken. You turned your head ever so slightly, a rusty elevator shaft caught your attention. Heading over towards that, you squeezed your side inside to see that it was missing the very important part—the elevator. You glanced up, seeing someone very familiar. Your lips stretched into a frown when you realized what he was doing was well beyond dangerous, it was just stupid. The man decided to climb his way up the very, very high way upwards. You couldn’t help but think what it would sound like if he made one wrong move. You winced at the uncomfortable thought.

“Sam!” You hissed, voice echoing upwards. You gritted your teeth when he didn’t even bother stopping. He just kept going up and up…soon, he was gone from sight.

It felt like forever, standing around and waiting for Sam to come back down and tell you what he had found. But the sounds of footsteps pounding against the staircase and a door being slammed shut made you realize that you still had company that had yet to leave. You held your breath in fear when you heard the footsteps come where you had been hiding. But soon enough, they went in the direction towards the exit, allowing you to breathe a little easier.

It was another ten minutes before you saw Sam reappear in your vision again. After he made it down safety, you quickly bombarded him with questions about what he had found. But the look on his face seemed to quiet you down, it was something that made you realize that your friends were becoming more closer than you expected.

\+ + +

Morning came quicker than you had hoped after your head hit the pillow just a few hours ago. The sunlight pouring from your open blinds caused a groan of annoyance to escape your parted lips. You rolled around in your bed until you were now lying on your backside, still in the clothes from the previous night that were now wrinkled. You rubbed your eyes, trying to get yourself to wake up, but the idea of just closing your eyes again was so much better. All though, a voice made a chilling realization come back into your mind from the previous events that occurred last night.

 

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.”

The voice wasn’t recognizable at first. But your mind went into panic mode, still tense from what you had saw last night, even though it was little. Sam was holding out information that was making you curious to know more. He simply told you to go back to the motel and stay there for the night. You slowly remembered that you had came back shortly after midnight, you locked the door and made sure the window was bolted shut…with the blinds closed.

You didn’t move at first, but you get enough courage to sneak a hand under the pillow, your fingertips touching the cold blade that you kept for the safety to keep yourself protected. You counted down in your head from three until you made the first move on the man.

You lurched yourself up into a sitting position on the bed, your hand yanking backwards from the pillow and went directly at the direction of the strange. The knife somehow got out of your grip from the force of how you swing your arm forward. It flew across the room, trying to find its target—and he only has just a few seconds before he realized what is happening. You thought it was Josh, the voice sounded so familiar. Instead, you nearly stabbed Dean.

The next thing you heard is the sound of the knife going straight into the wall and his body slamming against the floor to doge the attack. A hand jumps toward your mouth, trying to suppress the gasp that threatens to spill out of your mouth. Your eyes slowly linger from his body that is getting up from the ground now, both of you look at the damage. If Dean wasn’t quick enough, you would have aimed perfectly at his head.

“Son of a bitch.” Dean hisses to himself, realizing that he had a close encounter with death.

He gets up from the floor, dusting off the invisible dirt from his pants before straightening out his shoulders. All you can hear is the dull sounds of his boots hitting against the ground and the knife being yanked out from the wall. He turns around and looks at you with a look that is nothing more than anger, you nervously swallow when he twirls around the knife so the handle is now turned to your direction. You reach out and grab it, dreading for the lecture that is about to happen.

“Where did you learn to do that? No—why the hell are you sleeping with a knife underneath your pillow? Are you insane?” He asks, his tone of voice was almost a strict fatherly tone. You blink, not sure how to answer. But he continues to throw questions at you, not giving you a chance to speak. “And where the hell were you last night? I checked up on you and I see that your bed is empty.”

“I was—” Before you had a chance to make up a lie on the spot, Dean seems to connect the dots quicker than you had thought.

“You little…” He stops himself from saying anything that he’ll regret, trying to subside the anger so he can tell you what he had discovered last night. Dean let out a sharp sigh, waving a hand for you to follow him. “Just get your ass out of bed. I need to show you something.”

You mocked his tone, rolling out of bed and following behind the man while both of you head back to the brothers’ motel room. You noticed that the beds looked almost untouched. Sam still wasn’t home yet and Dean probably didn’t get any sleep, what else was new. You must be the only sane person here, managing to snag at least a few hours before your terrible wake up call that almost ended fatal. Call yourself crazy, but you swore his voice sounded like Josh’s.

You headed over towards the table that was covered with different case files and pieces of paper. You leaned over, reaching to open up a manila folder, but your concentration was broken from the sounds of the motel door being opened and slammed shut. Looking over your shoulder, you were quick to notice that Sam was back. And he seemed to be in one piece, getting himself out of harm’s way while he played detective all night.

Dean wandered back from the bathroom after hearing the door open. Both brothers were urgent to share the news that they had discovered last night, rushing up and stopping after heading up to another. Being brothers, they just had to repeat the same sentence.

“Dude, I’ve got to talk to you.”

Both of them gave one another strange looks, you just rolled your eyes at their impeccable timing, like always. You shushed them both and told Sam to go first, the anticipation of what he had learned last night was killing you. All you had been thinking about was what he had learned what Meg was up to, you thought of a few things, but what he had explained wasn’t something that you were quite expecting. It seemed that Meg wasn’t as innocent as all of you presumed for her to be. She had picked up a hobby that left two dead and possibly more, if all of you weren’t fast enough.

“So, hot little Meg is summoning the daeva?” Dean wondered out loud, walking across the room and toward his brother’s direction.

You sat at the table, watching as he paced around the room, but his eyes never leaving his brother when he repeated the information that he had learned. You didn’t know if was upset or if he was trying to find an excuse to tease his brother about his horrible choice of women.

“It looks like she was using that black alter to control the thing.” Sam explained, turning around as he followed his brother.

“So Sammy’s got a thing for the bad girl.” Dean remarked, a small smirk spread across his lips. Sam just rolled his eyes. “And what’s the deal with that bowl again? She was talking into it—”

“The way that witches used to scry into crystal balls or animal organs. She was communicating with someone.” Sam said.

Your face scrunched up in confusion, not sure what would be trying to contact her. “With the daeva?” You wondered out loud.

“No, you said those things were savages.” Sam said. “No, this was someone different. Someone who’s giving her orders, someone who’s coming to that warehouse.”

Dean fell silent for a few moments, thinking to himself about something before he was heading straight for the table that you were sitting at. He took a seat right next to you, grabbing the folder that you were just about to read before Sam came back. He opened it up and read something before looking up and staring at the wall. You gave him a concerned look, not sure what he had pieced together that left him in shock.

“Holy crap.” He muttered, looking at both of you.

“What?” You asked.

“What I was gonna tell you guys earlier. I pulled a favor with my…” Dean cleared his throat between sentences, “friend Amy over at the police department. Complete records of the two victims. We missed something the first time.”

“What?” Sam repeated, heading over towards you and his brother. He leaned over to see what Dean had found.

“The first victim—the old man? He spent his whole life in Chicago, but look where he was born.” Dean said, pointing at the birthplace of the death certificate. What you read made your stomach flutter in a nervous twist of events that were connecting together.

“Lawrence, Kansas.” Sam read out loud.

“Mm-hmm. Meredith—the second victim? It turns out she was adopted.” Dean closed the first folder before grabbing the other one that was lying beneath it. He opened it up and showed the both of you a similar sheet of paper. “And guess where she’s from?”

Same as the first victim: Lawrence, Kansas. Your eyes jumped up from the paper when Sam mindlessly fell back into the chair that was right across from yours, obviously he was as shocked as all of you were at the moment. You pressed your fingers into your palm, knowing that you couldn’t tell yourself that this was just another strange coincidence. Something good wasn’t adding up here.

“Holy crap.” Sam mumbled out.

“Yeah.” Dean said, dropping his arm back towards the table.

“I mean, that is where the demon killed Mom and Y/N’s dad. That’s where it all started.” Sam said. You rubbed your hands over your face, suddenly everything was beginning to become too much for your comfort. “You think Meg’s tied up with the demon?”

“I think it’s a definite possibility.” Dean said.

“But what’s the significance of Lawrence? And how do these daeva fit in?” Sam questioned. All you were getting were more questions and no answers like you had hoped. It was all beginning to make you go insane.

“I say you two trash that black alter, grab Meg, and have ourselves a little friendly interrogation.” You suggested, your tone of voice was nothing more than serious. If she was dealing with the demon that caused all of this mess, you were ready to let the bitch have it for a few answers.

Sam was quick to shake his head at your idea, your frowned. “No, we can’t. We shouldn’t tip her off.” He said. “We’ve got to stake out that warehouse. We’ve got to see who…or what is showing up to meet her.”

“I’ll tell you one thing. I don’t think we should do this alone.” Dean said.

You and Sam knew what he was getting at. Glancing down, you had hoped he wasn’t going to miss out on something that he was had been chasing for too long. After all, if this was the demon that caused this mess, it seemed only fair that he could settle the grief that had been haunting the man for well over twenty years. And maybe if this was all settled tonight he could finally be the father to his children, you couldn’t help yourself but think while you glanced up to look at the brothers one more time.

\+ + +

Sam made himself busy with getting whatever what was needed for tonight’s events. Dean was debating still with himself to call his father. You excused yourself out of the room, leaving him to have a bit of privacy so he could leave a message. You made your way back to your own room and thought of ways to kill some time and keep your mind from going into overdrive from thinking too much about what was happening.

It was weird to think that you could be so close to getting what you wanted; a peaceful mind knowing that all of you were safe from the creature that had been taunting all of you for too long. All the nightmares would stop. You could live your life without constant fear that something was going to pop out and kill you next. But you began to wonder when all of this was over, where would you fall into the mix? Did you want to continue helping them or just fall into the lifestyle that you grew up to want?

You shook your head. This wasn’t the time to question everything. You got up from the bed and decided that your time would be more efficient with helping the boys get everything ready for tonight.

Heading back to the other motel room, you were quick to hear the ending of Dean’s message to his father. You quietly walked into the room to see Sam standing next to the bed with a stuffed duffel bag and Dean sitting at the edge.

“Dad, if you get this, get to Chicago as soon as you can.” Dean finished up the message before hanging up the cell phone before letting his hand rest against his face, slowly letting himself get lost into thought.

“Voice mail?” Sam asked, breaking his brother from his concentration. He dropped the small bag that he was carrying across the bed.

“Yeah.” Dean said.

Sam dropped the duffel bag towards the bed, letting it jump, causing enough force for Dean to feel. He got up from the bed, surprised to see the amount of things that was stuffed inside. You walked up to the bed also, Sam moved around his sore shoulder, obviously not used to the amount that was put on his body.

“I ransacked that trunk—holy water, every weapon that I could think of.” Sam said. Dean wasted no time opening up the bag and digging inside to see what he could find. “Exorcism rituals from about half-dozen religions.”

You grabbed the three books that looked rather old after Dean threw them to the bed. You opened one up and examined the text, but everything looked to be in Latin, a language that you still wanted to learn. You squinted, trying to make out what one word in particular said, looking familiar to you from the previous lessons about exorcism that you had learned a few months ago.

“I’m not sure what to expect.” Sam admitted. So maybe he had gone rather overboard on finding proper material for tonight’s events. But you couldn’t blame the guy; it was better to go in with the worst scenario on mind just in case in happened. “So I guess we should just expect everything, huh?”

You stood back and watched them absorb themselves into getting ready for the possibility of the biggest hunt of their lives. They were like little trained soldiers getting themselves mentally prepared, all the training their father had put them through was beginning to shine through. All you could hear was the sounds of guns being locked into place after checking the amount of bullets and slamming it back shut.

You didn’t know exactly what part you played into this, if you were going to get involved at all. With little training and no skills that compared to theirs, you were beginning to think that sticking this one out was a better choice. With a chance to see the end of this nightmare, you wanted to live in order to see the outcome. A weird feeling began to creep inside of you. This really could be coming to an end, after all these years.

“It’s a big night.” Dean commented, breaking the silence that had fallen over the three of you.

“Yeah.” Sam mumbled out. He tinkered around with his gun for a few moments before looking up at his brother. “You nervous?”

“No. No, are you?” Dean shook his head. He examined his shotgun before looking at his brother for the answer.

“No. No way.” Sam said. You tilted your head back and looked at them, each trying their hardest not to let their fear show through. They kept going until Sam spoke up again. “God, could you imagine if we actually found that damn thing, that demon?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, all right?” Dean reminded his brother. It was nice to dream about a better day, but it doesn’t mean it would happen when all of you wanted to.

“I know. I’m just saying…what if we did? What if this whole thing was over tonight?” Sam thought out loud. He seemed to be caught up in the moment, not realizing how his brother was getting. One was positive, the other a pessimist. “Man, I’d sleep for a month, go back to school, just be a person again.”

Dean puckered in his lips for a few moments before looking at his brother. “You wanna go back to school?” He asked.

“Yeah, once we’re done hunting the thing.” Sam said. Dean mumbled something before throwing the gun towards the bed. “Why? There something wrong with that?”

“No, no, it’s great. Good for you.” Dean mumbled. He picked up a strap and began working on it, pretending to be nonchalant about what his brother had admitted. But you could tell he wasn’t quite happy with his response. It seemed that he wanted to hear something different.

“I mean, what are you gonna do when it’s all over?” Sam asked.

“It’s never going to be over.” Dean said, his tone of voice was hard. “There’s always going to be others. There’s always going to be something to hunt.”

“But there’s got to be something that you want for yourself.” Sam said.

“I don’t want you to leave the second this is over.” Dean suddenly snapped at his brother. You were a bit take me back by his tone of voice and how the mood shifted around in the room. It seemed that Sam had hit a nerve without even trying.

“Dude, what’s your problem?” Sam questioned. It seemed that neither of you knew what was bubbling down in the surface, but all of it was about to come out.

Dean kept himself quiet for a few moments, slowly lingering towards the dresser, letting his hands rest on either side while he leaned forward. A sigh escaped his mouth before he spoke up again. “Why do you think I drag you everywhere, huh?” Dean asked. He looked at his brother, a sullen look suddenly was replaced on his face. “Why do you think I came and got you at Stanford?”

“‘Cause Dad was in trouble.” Sam said, his brows furrowed. “‘Cause you wanted to find the thing that killed Mom.”

“Yes, that, but it’s more than that, man.” Dean said. He fell quiet for another few moments. Suddenly he was shaking his head, almost as if he was going to regret what he was going to say. He turned around and slowly walked over to you and Sam again. It wasn’t hard to notice the glazed look in the brothers’ eyes. “You and me and Dad—I want us to be together again.”

“Dean, we are a family. I’d do anything for for either of you.” Sam admitted. All though, the direction of the conversation wasn’t what the oldest brother was expecting. “But things will never be the way they were before.”

“They could be.” Dean mumbled, trying to crack a smile. You forced one, trying your hardest to find the right words to say, but nothing seemed good enough to mend the years of damage that was done on them or the different emotions that each of them felt about this situation.

“I don’t want them to be.” Sam admitted. He shook his head, thinking for a few moments before making eye contact with his brother again. “I’m not gonna live this life forever. Dean, when this is all over, you’re gonna have to let me go my own way.”

The truth always stung when it finally admitted; it was like sticking a band aid on a wound, you were going to have to rip it off and let it breathe. You decided that it was time to let them do their own work. As much as you wanted to help, and with your entire nightmare based around this monster, you weren’t trained well enough to put yourself into that kind of danger.

Besides, even though it was never said, those idiots were the only family had you had left. You wanted them to make sure that this job was done right so everything could go back to the way it should be. Even though part of you never wanted to leave the boys, fearing that everything would turn out like it did when you were children.

\+ + +

You spent the rest of the afternoon gathering your thoughts while making yourself shower and get ready for the day. All though you would be spending the rest of the time in the motel room, you decided to spend it wisely. You snagged a few of those books that were disregarded on the bed, neither of the boys armed interested in them. So, you took your chance to brush up on a dead language you couldn’t speak a word of.

Almost two hours passed with your forced interest in getting yourself into this damn book. Your mindless twists of the knife that you had been playing around with dropped when you heard something hit your open window. The night was rather warm enough to leave it open, but you were beginning to regret that decision from the noises you were hearing. Maybe it was your mind playing tricks on you, but you couldn’t be too cautious tonight.

You grabbed the knife that had fallen towards the bed when the noises happened again. Ever so quietly, you shut the book and place it next to you. Swinging your legs over the bed and pushing yourself up, you made sure to sneak the blade into your cast, but leaving enough room to grab the handle if needed at a moment’s notice.

You walked over towards the window to see what could be making the noises. Glancing around, nothing seemed to be catching your eye, that was until you spotted a harmless stray cat lingering out on the fire escape. You let out a sigh before smiling to yourself. This entire day was becoming too much for you, the paranoia was beginning to take a metal toll on your mind.

You turned around and went back to the bed, when you stepped back at the end of it, you leaned over and grabbed the book that you had previously been studying. While your attention was focused on the hardcover, you didn’t seem to notice an eerie looking shadow that seemed to have followed you around.

Mindlessly thinking of something that crossed your mind, you headed over to the door to wish the boys good luck on their rather heavy hunt tonight. But it seemed that before you had a chance to take another step, the creature struck down. The next thing that you felt your body doing was hitting the floor from the pain that sank into your calf. A harsh stinging sensation ran through the broken skin, you had little moments to realize what was going on before the next thing that you saw was a familiar face strike down and make your vision black out into unconsciousness.

\+ + +

An aching headache was one of the first things you could register from the brief moments of consciousness that you were getting back. You blinked a few times, trying to keep the fear of going blind to quit crossing your mind. It took a few moments to feel the itchy fabric brush against your skin. You tried to figure out what was going on with you. Eyesight was temporally gone…tugging at your wrists, a muffled groan escaped your throat. You realized you were gagged and bound with no chance of getting yourself free.

You tried to think what happened to you before you ended up in this situation. You had been minding your own business, trying to keep yourself out of trouble. But it seemed that it had came to you. You were quick to notice the sounds of shoes pounding against the wooden floors before your blindfold was being ripped off to reveal a rather familiar face.

There he was: Josh was crouched down toward your level with a smirk that could almost fool anyone into falling off his boyish charm, but the black eyes that he was staring at you with wasn’t make you feel all that welcome. It was beginning to make you wonder if he was possessed the entire time you had met him again all those weeks ago. Sam had met Meg right before your break in. He was there when you were working on that case with the boys back in Ohio. Maybe all of this was a set up. Your eyes widened slightly in fear when you realized what was going on.

“She’s not dumb like them, that’s for sure. This one catches on fast.” Josh commented, his inky black eyes flickering back to his normal shade of blue. He turned his head to look at the woman that had stepped inside to join the two of you. “I think she’s going to be fun.”

“Don’t think I’m going to let you stick around to see what happens. You were just a little distraction to get this little plan into action. Nothing more, nothing less. That was our deal.”

A voice broke you from your thoughts, your gaze was ripped away from Josh to the woman of the hour—Meg. She let the metal door to the upstairs warehouse room slam shut, your eyes never leaving her sight while she headed towards the alter that Sam had been talking about. All sorts of different objects were displayed across the place. None of it was making you feel at home in this dump called a warehouse.

Meg noticed your lingering stares, she stopped walking and looked at you for a few moments, a frown stretched across her lips. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you that it’s rude to stare?” A few seconds later she was smiling, as if she was sharing an inside joke with herself.

Oh, the things you wanted to say to her, but all they would be a jumbled mess that nobody would understand. You watched from the corner of your eye of what Josh was doing. He was heading off toward the other side of the room, but his attention never left you. So he was a little pit bull to the bitch, she was doing what she wanted, killing innocent people and what? It took you a few moments to connect the dots. But all of it made perfect sense.

She was luring out the boys towards her little trap. And you were an extra precaution, just in case they decided to back out of their plans. But now they had no choice.

Meg wasted no time in getting herself into setting the mood for another ritual. She lit a few candles and turned her back to you, that’s when the Latin began to spill out from her mouth, none of it which you could properly understand. But you were beginning to think that it wasn’t something that was for the greater good. And you didn’t really want to stick around to see what was going to happen.

You twisted your wrists around, trying your hardest to get yourselves out of the rope, but they were too tight. You clenched the cloth that was stuck between your teeth tighter in anger. If only you could move your wrist ever so slightly to the left…you could feel the cold metal brush against your skin. You had one chance at getting yourself out of this alive, but you couldn’t even get the damn knife out.

It felt like forever of sitting on the hard ground and listening to her chants. You were beginning to get a headache and lack of hope for this situation to change. Just face it, they were going to find your dead body and the brothers were going to be next. All’s well that ends well, your mind taunted at you.

Clink…clink… Your ears picked out a sound that was unfamiliar to you after getting used towards the squeaks and grounds of this warehouse, this one was far different. Turning your head, you looked around the place, slowly your gaze was drawn towards the familiar elevator shaft and two pairs of hands wrapped around the rusty bars. Just a few seconds later, their faces popped up into your sight. But from where you were sitting, they couldn’t see where you were for now.

You turned your head towards Meg, wondering if she had noticed what was going on, but she was too caught up in her chanting to notice the guests that were dropping by. Sam had gotten himself out first, he stood guard before his brother made it out and got to his feet, neither of them made a sound. You watched as they disappeared from your sight for a few moments, their shadows dancing around the walls until they reappeared again.

With little time to waste, you tried your hardest to get their attention, making small sounds by kicking your feet or mumbling out words quiet enough to keep the attention from being drawn on al of you. You were beginning to think they weren’t going to hear you, that was until a familiar pair of green eyes flickered over to you for just a moment. But it was enough time to realize what happened to you.

You could feel your body relax a bit when you watched Dean slowly make his way through the stacks of boxes and junk before he was at your level now. You let out a breath of relief when he loosened your gag and dropped the fabric towards the ground. He wasted no time for questions of what you were doing here before he was undoing your bounds, it seemed that he was more eager than ever to take down Meg.

You opened your mouth to warn him about what tonight events could lead to, but he pressed a finger to his lips to keep you quiet. Now wasn’t the time to discuss anything when all of you had the element of surprise. You and him made it back to Sam, who had been concentrating on Meg. Still the woman didn’t seem to notice what was happening. You pressed your backside against the pillar to keep yourself hidden from her while the boys stood guard, waiting for the right moment to attack.

It seemed that almost everything was going according to plan. The thought of getting out of this messy situation alive crossed your mind, but it slowly died when your attention was ripped towards Meg again. What came out of her mouth next was something that you could understand quite well.

“Guys, hiding is a bit childish, don’t you think?”

“Well, that didn’t work out like I planned.” You heard Dean whisper to his brother, you closed your eyes at the horrible luck that all of you were having.

Meg turned around slightly, her attention landing on the boys that were hovering over stacked boxes. She didn’t seem too intimated at the guns that were pointing at her. “Why don’t you come out?” She asked, her gone of voice was as if she was speaking to a frightened child.

Ever so slowly, the boys got up from their hiding positions, but never faltering from their defensive positions. You looked over your shoulder ever so slightly to see what was going on. Meg was standing right in front of the boys, a smile spread across her face, and her attention stuck on the youngest Winchester. She was acting as if this entire situation was a joke.

“Sam, I have to say, this puts a real crimp in our relationship.” Meg remarked, taking a few steps forward towards the man before stopping.

“Yeah. Tell me about it.” Sam said, his grip on the gun shifting slightly.

“So, where’s your little daeva friend?” Dean asked, changing the subject, but in a nonchalant tone of voice.

“Around.” Meg said. Her eyes drifted towards the weapons that he held, a quiet scoff rolled out of mouth. “And that shotgun’s not gonna to do you much good.”

“Oh, don’t worry sweetheart, the shotgun’s not for the demon.” Dean remarked, his lips twitching into a smirk when he pointed the gun just a bit higher to make a point.

“So, who is it, Meg? Who’s coming?” Sam questioned. “Who are you waiting for?”

Her lips stretched into a smirk of her own. She held a few second pause before speaking up. “You.”

That seemed to have caught them off guard, giving the daeva a chance to make its move on them while they were distracted. The demon was nothing more than just a shadow on the wall, the same thing that attacked you from before. You couldn’t help your gaze slowly linger around it, a silent predator that lurked on its pray before finding the right chance to strike down.

Sam was the fist one to be clawed down. He fell down towards the ground with a thud, he gun scattering across the ground. Dean had no time to defend himself, the daeva was quick to lash out and strike him hard enough to send his body flying across the room and straight into a stack of boxes.

Sam seemed to be still clutching on to consciousness just a little bit longer than his brother. He crawled on his stomach, trying to get something to defend himself for a fighting chance to get out of this alive for all of you. But before his fingertips could even touch the barrel of the gun, the daeva’s claws swung down again and struck him against the cheeks with enough force to get the other brother knocked unconscious.

You had little time to react, your mind switched into survival mode, the only thought of grabbing a gun and shooting her was on your mind. The one that had scattered across the ground was just close enough for you to reach if you were quick enough. You counted down from three before you lunged for the gun. Scrambling to your feet, you managed to just reach for it before someone else snatched it from your grip.

Looking up, your face grew with anger when you saw Meg with the gun, she was pointing it directly at your head with her finger on the trigger.

\+ + +

The thing about working with the boys, there was always a chance you were going to be used as some sort of bait, even though the idea of being used like a toy to lure in whatever wanted them made you roll your eyes at the thought. A little too damsel in distress for your taste.

You had always thought there was a chance of getting out of any situation alive, but with a psychopath working with a demon—all your hopes were thrown out the window. No matter how hard you tried to think of a plan or struggled to get out of the iron tight grip of his, the dooming thought still crossed your mind; maybe you were going to die tonight like you had feared.

“I swear, when I get my hands on the both of you, I’m gonna kill you.” You threatened Meg, who stood over you with a proud smile at what she had accomplished. And she didn’t even have to lift a single finger to get the job done with her little helper.

She didn’t flinch at your threats like you had hoped. All she did was stand back and watch as her little lap dog round up the boys while you had to watch the mess unfold. Seeing them bloody and unconscious made your drive to get out even more stronger. But with Bonnie and Clyde overing you like a pack of vultures, there was no chance of getting yourself free.

“Feisty Momma.” Josh, the demon, whatever—remarked with a smirk. He roughly grabbed a hold of your good arm and yanked it behind with the other one. He began tying your wrists back together, making sure to do them extra tight before he continued talking. “I can see why they like you so much. She’s got a mean tongue and doesn’t back down from a fight. I think that’s pretty hot—a girl who knows how to take care of herself.”

“Screw you, jackass.” You muttered underneath your breath. You turned your head the other way, suppressing the urge to rip his throat out with your teeth when he leaned in a bit closer, trying to make a point that you weren’t quite getting at. You felt his grubby fingers dig into your cheeks, roughly yanking your head so you were looking at him, black eyes and all.

“I could kill your little buddies right now, maybe I’ll even take a stab at this one before leaving his body.” He said in a low tone. You gave him a glare, but you kept yourself quiet to keep anyone from getting hurt. The man smirked to himself before dropping his hand back to his side. “Good girl.”

With that comment alone, your blood was beginning to boil over even more. The urge to kill them couldn’t be stronger now. You needed to get out of your restraints, and quick, but you had little opportunity to make a move. But it was going to be impossible sitting in the middle of the floor with Meg hovering over you and Josh wandering around the place, eyeing everyone to make sure everything was going according to her plan.

You watched from the corner of your eye as the two of them spoke for just a few moments. She said a few words that her pet didn’t like, but he followed her orders that you couldn’t hear. Josh took a glance over at you before making his way over towards the door and vanished from sight. It seems that she had gotten what she wanted and didn’t need his help anymore. Or he was going to be playing guard somewhere else.

Your thoughts of revenge were diminished when you heard the sounds of clothes shifting and familiar groans of pain. It seemed that the boys were finally beginning to regain consciousness again, Sam was the first one to find himself back into reality while Dean slowly came around just a few seconds later. You winced to see how horrible their wounds had turned out to be from the lighting. Sam looked around the room before his attention was drawn back to you.

“Hey, Sam, don’t take this the wrong way, but your girlfriend…” Your voice trailed off when you looked at Meg, who seemed to have a grin across her face. You gave her a dirty look before finishing your sentence. “Is kind of a bitch.”

“This, the whole thing, was a trap.” Sam spoke up for the first time. He just stared at Meg, shaking his head at how she had planned this entire situation that all of you fell into so easily.

“Running into you at the bar, following you here, hearing what you had to say—it was all a set up, wasn’t it?” Meg just chuckled, seeming happy that someone had gotten her plan. You wanted to smack it right off her face. “And that the victims were from Lawrence.”

“It doesn’t mean anything. It was just to draw you in, that’s all.” She said, shrugging her shoulders as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“You killed two people for nothing.” Sam hissed.

“Baby, I’ve killed a lot more for a lot less.” She said in a cool tone, smiling again like a psychopath.

“You trapped us. Good for you.” Dean said, Meg’s head turned to look at him. “It’s Miller time. Why don’t you just kill us already?”

“Not very quick on the uptake, are we?” Meg asked. She leaned over from the crate that she was sitting on, resting her elbows on her thighs. “This trap wasn’t for you.”

Your blood ran cold with that knowledge. All of you kept quiet for a few moments, realizing that it was for someone else, the last person that you were expecting. “Dad.” Sam spoke up again. Your eyes flickered towards him. “It’s a trap for Dad.”

Meg smirked to herself again. Bingo!

“Oh, sweetheart, you’re dumber than you look.” Dean said, a cocky smirk of his own spread across his lips faintly enough while he spoke. “‘Cause even if Dad was in town, which he is not, he wouldn’t walk into something like this. He’s too good.”

“He is pretty good, I’ll give you that.” Meg said. You watched as she got up from her makeshift seat and slowly walked over to Dean, you clenched your jaw. “But you see…” She straddled down just low enough so she was at eye level with him. She played around with his jacket while she continued speaking. “He has one weakness.”

“What’s that?” He asked, amusing himself with the answer that he wasn’t expecting.

“You.” She simply said. “He lets his guard down around his boys,” Meg turned around so she was staring at you for a few seconds. “and the one that he’s looked after for years, almost kind of like the daughter he’s never had. Someone had to keep an eye on you after Mommy was mauled to death by her own hands, right Y/N?”

She looks back at Dean, ignoring your threatening glares that seem to be getting stronger with each word that she speaks. “He lets his emotions cloud his judgement. And I happen to know he is in town, and he’ll come and try to save you.”

Every bad word that you thought of was beginning to cross your mind. You tugged at your restraints, but still, they weren’t budging. You shifted around ever so slowly in your spot, you felt the knife dig more into your skin, you had to shift your cast downwards until you felt the sharp blade brush against your fingertips. You suppressed the urge to smile at the small streak of luck.

“And the daevas will kill everybody—nice and slow…” She looked over at Sam, her lips stretched into a grin when she finished. “And messy.”

“Well, I’ve got news for you.” Dean said, drawing the attention back to him. “It’s gonna take a lot more than some…shadow to kill him.”

“Oh, the daevas are in the room here.” She explained, your body froze when she told the truth. You clenched the handle tighter and quickly hid it away for a few moments. “They’re invisible. Their shadows are just the only part you can see.”

“Why are you doing this, Meg?” Sam questioned. “What kind of deal you got worked out here, huh? And with who?”

“I’m doing this for the same reasons you do what you do—loyalty, love.” She said, but she quickly turned her tone into a taunting one. “Like the love you had for Mommy…and Jess.”

“Go to Hell.” Sam hissed at her.

“Baby, I’m already there.” She said in what you could only count as flirting. And she continued the behavior, she headed over towards the other brother. She let out a petty sigh before straddling his body. “Come on, Sam. There’s no need to be nasty.”

You rolled your eyes at her attempts of seducing the man. Ever so slowly, you twirled around the knife until it was touching the rope. You began to work slowly, but you put hard pressure towards the binds. Anything to keep yourself from lunging forward and head butting Meg with all the night that you had. She was making your skin crawl for how she was treating Sam. Just sizing him up like you or Dean weren’t sitting here, having to endure this mess.

“Get a room you two.” You muttered underneath your breath, looking away.

It seemed that while the two little love birds had a little fun, you weren’t the only one that was trying to get themselves out. You were nearly halfway through the binds, that was until the sounds of a switchblade opening made a loud enough for all of you to stop. You watched as she turned her head to look at Dean, catching on what he was trying to do.

Swallowing nervously, Meg got up and slowly walked over to the other brother. She leaned down and looked over, a frown stretched across her lips at what she saw—Dean trying to hide the knife that he was previously using to cut the rope. She grabbed it and tossed it across the room. Swinging around the bar that he was pressed up against, she chuckled to herself, knowing that she had foiled his plans.

But you were one step ahead of all of them. You were cutting faster now, but you were keeping your eyes peeled to see if Josh was wandering around the room. All though, you weren’t afraid of what he was going to do to you.

“Now, we’re you trying to just distract me while your brother cuts free?” You heard her speak into Sam’s ear.

A smirk spread across your face when you felt the binds become loose. Just enough where you could wiggle yourself out of. If Sam could keep her distracted for just long enough, you could take her down. She didn’t seem like much of a fighter, but that wasn’t your plans. You wanted to do was kill her. Of all the things that she had put the three of you through, it seemed like a fair enough of a punishment.

You crawled away ever so slowly, deciding that this was your only chance to while she was still straddling Sam while the both of them spoke. It seemed that the youngest Winchester was on the same page as you, you got to your feet and hovered over Meg, your knife hanging from your hand.

“No. No.” He pretended to speak in a weak tone. You made eye contact with him, you grabbed her by the collar when he finished his sentence. “It was because I have a knife of my own.”

With all your strength, you yanked her back and slammed her body towards the floor. You roughly sat yourself on her body while Sam kept working on his own rope that was just seconds away breaking. You decided to let Meg sit around before all of you would come up with a plan. But you were one step ahead of everyone without even knowing it.

Pressing the blade towards her neck, you smiled at how she flinched from the small nick that you gave her. You looked up when you heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind. Looking over your shoulder, you saw Josh slowly creeping behind Dean, and he was getting ready to take a stab at the man You quickly drew back your knife and pointed it at him, your other hand wrapped itself around her neck to keep her from moving.

“Make one more step towards him and I swear, I’ll cut her throat.” You threatened to him. The man immediately threw up his hands in defense, obviously take back by your sudden change. You knew that demons were sadistic, but they could be weak when cornered.

“Now, you have two options. You either get out of here and I’ll let your pretty friend go. Or…” You slowly drew back the knife to Meg’s neck, you still kept eye contact with the demon’s black ones. “I’ll kill her myself. And maybe I’ll let these little daevas rip you apart while we watch. So, what’s it gonna be?”

You didn’t have to wait for that answer because the next thing you knew the sounds of a body dropping and that terrible smell of sulfur filled your nostrils. It took a moment to get yourself to realize that the demon was gone and Josh that you had known and loved was just lying on the ground. The fear that he was dead crossed your mind, but the way that his chest moved up and down was reassuring enough that he was left unharmed.

While you had lost concentration on Meg for just a moment, it was enough time for her to gain control. You felt your body suddenly being rolled over and then slammed on the ground. It was a few seconds before you regained your breathing that was knocked out of you, but Meg took it as another chance to try and get her plans rolling again. But it was three against one. You smiled at her, knowing that she was outnumbered.

“Go ahead, bitch.” You mocked her previous tone of voice. “But your little friend is gone and there’s no one to protect you for what’s coming to you.”

“And what’s that?” She asked, her tone of voice was full of amusement.

Her lips twitched into a smirk, your smile slowly stretched into a grin when you heard the sounds of the altar being flipped over and glass smashed all over the concrete ground. She didn’t seem to see that one coming. The look on her face was priceless.

“Revenge, bitch.”

You shoved her body off of you and scrambled to get yourself away from her right as all hell broke loose.

In just a blink of an eye, the sounds of her screams filled your ears as you saw her body being dragged across the grounds as she desperately clawed on anything to keep herself out of harms away. But the daevas were stronger than she ever could be. Meg was dragged across the room before she was thrown directly out of the window.

Your mouth fell open slightly at the twisted end of it all. The thud that echoed from the outside made it a clear reminder that she had fallen to her death. There was no way someone could survive a seven story drop. You propped your body up on your elbows and let out a breath that you didn’t know you had been holding. She was dead. She had to be.

Dragging yourself back to reality, you managed to get yourself back on your feet, but the wound that you had gotten from earlier stung when you put pressure on it. You examined the bloody marks on your skin, a frowned stretched across your lips at the thought of cleaning up the mess. Well, it could have ended up worse. You would live with a few stitches.

Sam had been busying himself with cutting his brother free and getting Dean back up on his feet, all though both of them were in pain from the slightest movement. You glanced over at the window again before looking over again at the boys. The curiosity was becoming too much for either of you to handle. All of you headed over towards the broken window, making sure not to step on the broken glass before looking down at the street.

There she was. Meg was lying on her backside, and as much as you expected her to move, she was perfectly still.

“So, I guess the daevas don’t like being bossed around.” Dean chuckled out, you shook your head at his subtle way of trying to make light of the turn of events.

“I guess not.” Sam mumbled out.

“Hey, Sam?” Dean asked his brother, both of you look at him. “Next time you want to get laid, find a girl that’s not so buckets of crazy, huh? And you,” Dean pointed a finger at you, “Next time you even think about introducing us to a friend…we’re going to run them through a few tests. Just to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

You scoffed at his response to all of this, you followed behind him while he headed towards the stuff that they had dropped from earlier. “And may I remind you that I’m the one that saved you from being stabbed to death by that demon. Kind of funny how things tuned about tonight.”

“You got lucky.” Dean muttered, you rolled your eyes at him. “But it’s not always going to be like this. You should have let me and Sam take care of this one.”

“Yeah, cause you two had a winning chance. Just admit it; I’m getting pretty good at this.” You said in a matter of fact voice. All though the boys rolled their eyes at your comment, the small smiles you saw before they vanished was satisfaction enough for you.

\+ + +

All of you headed back to the motel after agreeing that there wasn’t much of a chance to explain this entire situation to Josh. He was passed out cold and wouldn’t be coming back for a while, but you would let the police make sure he went home safely. You just wanted to patch up your wound and take off this damn cast. Even though you had one more day to go, it seemed appropriate to just let it go.

“Why don’t you just leave that stuff in the car?” Dean asked for the second time tonight. He shoved his hands inside his pockets and fetched out the room key to let all of you inside.

“I said it before and I’ll say it again—better safe than sorry.” Sam said, adjusting the bag over his shoulder.

You headed inside after both of the boys stepped in first, you were just about to shrug your jacket off, but a dark figure in the corner made you stop in your actions. And it seemed that you weren’t the only one that noticed it.

“Hey!” Dean warned the stranger, Sam flicked on the lights to see who it was.

The person slowly turned around, letting the profile of their face show through in fluorescent lights that were turned on just a few seconds later. A familiar presence made the entire mood in the room shift into something that you couldn’t describe. It seemed that Meg wasn’t lying to any of you—John really was really here.

“Dad.” Dean spoke up, breaking the silence that had fell in the room for a few seconds. He was in shock as much as you were.

“Hey, boys.” Josh said. His entire face was written with happiness at seeing his children and you alive from tonight’s events.

You felt your lips stretch into a smile, their family was reunited for the first time in almost three long years. After all these months of hunting him down and searching for the man. It was almost all worth the trouble that all of you had to go through for just this moment.

John slowly walked over to Dean before both of them met halfway, he engulfed his son into a tight hug. You turned your head to look over at Sam, he seemed almost out of place, not sure what to do with himself. You knew that John and him didn’t leave on good terms. But you couldn’t help yourself but nod forward, giving him the reassures that it was okay to be at ease. The Winchester family was back together again, and that was something to be happy about.

You followed behind the youngest man after he headed over towards his father. Both of them looked at one another, not sure what to do, but they both looked happy to see each other.

“Hi, Sam.” John spoke up, breaking the small silence.

“Hi, Dad.” Sam said. He dropped the bag towards the floor at his side.

“Dad, it was a trap.” Dean suddenly said. You turned your head to look at him, the face that he had made him look like a small child—like he had done something terribly wrong. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right.” John reassured his son. “I thought it might have been.”

“Were you there?” Dean asked.

“I got there just in time to see the girl take the swan dive. She was the bad guy, right?” John smiled slightly. The three of you looked at one another, not sure if that was something to joke about right now.

“Yes, sir.” Both of the brothers spoke up again in sync.

“Good. Well, it doesn’t surprise me. It’s tried to stop me before.” John said. You were a bit taken back by the news, but you knew what he was talking about and what the damn creature was capable of. You felt your body stiffen.

“The demon has?” Sam questioned.

“It knows I’m close. It knows I’m gonna kill it.” John explained. You felt your lips twitch at his confidence. “Not just exorcise it or send it back to Hell, actually kill it.”

“How?” You couldn’t help yourself but ask the question that burned in the back of your mind. Your mother thought she was going to do this job, but look at how she ended up.

“I’m working on that.” He said, you quietly sighed at looked down at your shoes for just a few moments.

“Let us come with you. We’ll help.” Sam tried to convince his father again. But John wasn’t stupid, he wasn’t going to let his children get into this mess.

“No, Sam. Not yet.” John said. “Listen, try to understand. This demon is a scary son of a bitch. I don’t want you caught in the crossfire.”

“I don’t want you hurt.” Sam argued. “You don’t have to worry about us.”

“Of course I do. I’m your father.” He simply said, as if that was going to be enough to stop his sons from continuing to try and help. There was a small pause before Joh spoke up again. “Listen, Sammy, the last time we were together, we had one hell of a fight.”

“Yes, sir.” Sam said, obviously remember that night as if it happened yesterday. But all the tensioned seemed to have been forgotten.

“It’s good to see you again. It’s been a long time.” John said. Both of them had the matching glazed over looks. You bit the inside of your cheeks to keep yourself from having the same effect.

“Too long.”

And finally, you watched as the two of them embraced into a tight hug. It was something that needed to be done. You were happy that this family was back together with no tension and anger

But nothing good ever lasts forever, out of all the people standing in this room, you should have known that.

Just as John pulled away from the hug, you watched as in a moment he was being pulled across the room and slammed against the wall. None of you had enough time to figure out what was going before all of you were the next victim. From the corner of your eye, you saw Sam being slammed down against the ground from an invisible force.

Something that was a scream of pain or fear escaped your throat when you felt a sharp sensation scrap against your skin before you felt your body crash against the wooden floors. All you could hear over your rapidly beating heart was Dean’s yells before he was claimed as the next victim.

\+ + +

Everything was happening so fast, there was too much to concentrate on at the moment.

The screams of pain that were coming from John that were the loudest, and they seemed to be only getting worse with time. You had little seconds to see what was causing this mess. You propped your body on your elbows and looked over at the walls.

Shadows. You thought to yourself with growing eyes. They were everywhere. But that didn’t make any sense, they had to be summoned, and the person who had done it was dead. You thought about what you saw yesterday…it had to be true. That could be the only explanation for the chaos that wandered around the room, striking down on all four of you.

A jolt of pain that scraped across your chest caused the thoughts to quickly escape your mind. You tried your hardest to get away, but the claws dug themselves into your leg and dragged you across the floor, as if you had a chance against something that you couldn’t see. You tried desperately to get away, but they were stronger. You cried out again when the claws dragged themselves across your body. You dug your nails into the wood, forcing yourself not to scream or cry.

Karma is a bitch. Karma is a bitch. Karma is a bitch. Karma is a BITCH.

The thought kept running through your mind with the ideas to get out of this mess lingered around. You had another few moments to catch your breath when you saw the shadows dance around the room, leaving you alone for a few moments. You rolled over towards your backside and seen everything from an upside down point of view. Maybe it was the pain or the slight blood loss, but everything was becoming a bit fuzzy to you.

You made out the distinct figures of Sam heading towards the open duffel bag and saying something to Dean about these shadows and light. But the next thing you knew there was a flare rolling across the floor with a brightness that caused you to shield your eyes.

A cough escaped your throat next from the smoke that filled the air. But it made the demons scram away from Sam’s brilliant idea that saved all of you from being mauled to death from these animalistic demons.

You tried your hardest to get yourself up to your feet, but your body felt like it was on fire whenever you moved a single inch. You were about to give up, but an arm wrapped around your body lifted you up with ease. Looking with squinted eyes, you noticed that Sam had bent down and picked you up like a small child while Dean went to help his father. All you could do was clutch on to Sam, fearing that he would somehow drop you and leave you for dead while he carried the heavy duffel bag, but he managed.

It felt like forever just being in that room; coughing hysterically through the thick smoke while trying to navigate the way through the harsh brightness. But all of you made it out alive. The sounds of the door being open and fresh air filling your lungs made you want to cry from happiness. But the fight wasn’t over yet.

All of you managed to escape the building and head back towards the alley that Dean had parked. With little time to waste, a plan was sparked out of Dean, even though neither you or Sam were were going to like it. But it had to be done if all of you wanted to live tonight.

“As soon as the flare’s out, they’ll be back.” Sam said. You managed to get yourself to stay on your feet while you rested against the Impala. You heard the back seat door open so he could throw the duffel bag inside. Just as he was about to help you inside, Dean stopped him.

“Wait, wait. Sam, wait.” Dean quickly said. Both of you stopped to hear what he had to say. The oldest looked over at his father, he took a few deep breaths between the pain before speaking again. “Dad, you can’t come with us.”

“What? What are you talking about?” You hissed at the man.

“You kids—You’re beat to hell.” Joh said. All though, the same could have been said for him. Blood matted down his hair while you could see the claw marks through the torn clothes.

“We’ll be alright.” Dean tried to reassure his father.

“Dean, we should stick together! We’ll go after those—”

“Sam, listen to me!” Dean shouted at his brother. “We almost got Dad and Y/N killed in there. Do you understand? They’re not gonna stop. They’re gonna try again. They’re gonna use us to get to him. I mean, Meg was right. Dad is vulnerable when he’s around us. He’s…He’s stronger without us around.”

But it wasn’t going to stop Sam from trying to have all of you stick together like he had wanted.

“Dad…no.” Sam placed a hand in his father’s shoulder. You glanced up to see Dean’s face. You didn’t know how much it hurt to hate him say that. But if he wanted to survive and not end up like another victim, it needed to be done. “After everything,” You trailed your eyes down to the ground, a wet substance glazed over them while Sam continued talking. “After all the time we spent looking for you, please. I’ve got to be apart of this fight.”

“Sammy, the fight is just starting, and we’re all gonna have to play a part. For now, you’ve got to trust me, son. Okay?” John said. You’ve got to let me go.“

All of you were at the brink of insanity; you thought that when the boys saw their father again, everything would be okay. But it was just getting worse and worse. You looked at the family, knowing that this was the hardest news of acceptance they needed to face. But it needed to be done if they wanted this family to keep on living.

You watched as John walked away from the three of you, making subtle glances over his shoulder before stopping at his truck. You couldn’t believe this was happening. "Be careful, boys.” Was the last thing he said before he stepped inside the car and started it up.

“Come on.” Dean muttered to the both of you. He headed towards the driver’s side and opened up the door, sliding himself inside.

Sam managed to help you into the backseat with little movements that didn’t cause you too much pain. You mumbled a thank you before the door slam shut, seconds later you felt the car shake a bit from the weight of Sam’s body against the passenger’s seat. All of you watched as the trunk disappeared from sight. John was off again, disappearing into the night.

Quietness slowly fell over the three of you for a few moments. Part of you should have been sad about what happened or vulnerable like you were before, but you weren’t. You were angry.

It was another few moments before you heard the sounds of the engine kicking on and Dean’s arm resting over the front seats so he could back up. He pressed his foot on the gas and reversed out of the alley as quick as possible. He changed gear and twisted the steering wheel around and speeding off into the night.

But you caught her just in time when Dean turned the corner and zoomed off at an illegal speed.

Meg stood at the top of the subway stairs, watching as all of you drove away. The look of disappointment was good enough to see on her face right now. But the next time that you saw her, she wasn’t going to be too lucky. The bitch was going to die when you got your hands on her. But the boys didn’t need to know what you saw tonight, they have been through enough hell.

You were going to prove to her and that little demon that you were strong enough to play in a part of this fight. You were willing to do anything to prove it to them. But things had a funny way of changing when you least expect it.


	16. Hell House.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People have mentioned this chapter has repeated parts. I’ve reposted and re read this, and I see nothing wrong. If you’re having trouble reading on here I suggest just trying it on here: 
> 
> http://huntertales.tumblr.com/tagged/hell-house

“You have one new message: ’Y/N, are you there? I called you five times last night and you still haven’t answered any of my previous messages. I need to talk to you about what happened. Just…please. I need to get clarification for what I saw, what I said. I keep telling myself that it was a dream, but it feels too real. Please, Y/N…you’re the only one I can trust right now.’ End of message.”

Closing your cell phone, a sigh was quick to escape your lips before you pressed them together in annoyance. It was another voice mail from Josh. You were beginning to think that tapping into the urge of throwing out your phone from the car window wasn’t such a bad idea, after all. But you shoved the damn thing back into your bag and positioned yourself in the seat to a better one before letting your body relax for the first time this morning.

This entire situation sucked. John had escaped after all of you managed to dodge another attempt on your lives—thanks to those damn demons. And Josh was testing your nerves to see how long you could keep up this endless game of phone tag. All you wanted to do was crawl back home and forget about everything for a while. But the boys decided that it was best to stick together and keep hunting to keep all of you sane. After all, the demon could strike at anytime, they warned you for the thousandth time.

Screw that, you thought to yourself. With all the anger building up inside of you, there needed to be something to keep you from murdering one of the brothers in cold blood. So, you had kept yourself busy last night by searching a next possible case that might do all of you good before either one of you snapped at one another.

A chuckle from Dean caused you to break your concentration from the window. You looked up front to see Sam was still passed out in the passenger’s seat, quietly snoring, having no idea what his brother was up to. You watched as the oldest kept the steering wheel straight while he leaned down and grabbed a plastic spoon from the seat. Ever so slowly, he placed the utensil between Sam’s parted lips, he didn’t even seem to notice.

Dean fetched out his cell phone, deciding that this moment was too precious to lose, he positioned the camera towards his brother’s level and snapped a picture. You rolled your eyes at his lame attempts of a joke, but you couldn’t stop your lips from stretching into a small smile. You leaned over your seat slightly and examined the work, you shook your head at Dean while he laughed to himself.

The rock music suddenly became loud, Dean amped up the volume as an alarm clock for his brother to wake up. Sam was still for a few moments, getting himself back into reality, but it didn’t take very long for him to taste the plastic. His body jumped up from the seat as he tried to grab the spoon that was stuck between his clenched teeth. You had to laugh at Sam’s attempts to get the spoon out; he quickly threw the spoon to the ground, face scrunching up from the moldy taste he must have had to endure.

Dean just tapped his hands against the wheel trying to sync with the beat of the song, obviously enjoying the moment of victory. These were one of the few times you were glad that your mother never decided to have another child after you.

“Ha. Ha. Very funny.” Sam muttered, leaning over in his seat so he could turn down the music. He drew his hand back up to his mouth to get the lingering substance away from his tongue.

“Sorry. Not a lot of scenery here in east Texas—you kind of got to make your own.” Dean said. He overlooked the endless scenery of trees and farms that pass by every so often.

“Man, we’re not kids anymore, Dean.” Sam said, still annoyed with the grin that his brother wore proudly. “We’re not gonna start that crap up again.”

“Start what up?” You asked the brothers. Dean’s lips stretched into a small smirk while he looked at Sam for a few moments, acting ever so innocent. The other one rolled us eyes.

“That prank stuff.” Sam said to you. You nodded your head slightly, a quiet laugh escaping your lips when he became angry while discussing the topic. “It’s stupid, and it always escalates.”

“What’s the matter, Sammy? You afraid you’re gonna get a little Nair in your shampoo again, huh?” Dean taunted his little brother. That seemed to have started another round of the game, and you couldn’t wait to see the next move.

“All right. Just remembered you started it.” Sam warned his older brother.

“Oh, bring it on, baldy.” Dean joked.

“Where are we, anyway?” You asked, trying to get the both of them to stop arguing for a few moments. Glancing out of the window again, there wasn’t much to see, or possibly do.

“A few hours outside of Richardson.” Dean said, turning his head slightly to he was looking at you. “Give me the lowdown again.”

“Gimme that piece of paper.” You pointed at the sheet that was wedged against the dashboard. Sam leaned over in his seat and handed it to you. Taking a moment to look over it again, you refreshed yourself before telling the both of them. “All right, about a month or two ago, this group of kids go poking around this local haunted house—”

“Haunted by what?” Dean cut you off, you looked at him with an annoyed glare before explaining.

“Apparently, a pretty misogynistic spirit.” You explained, nearly laughing to yourself at the luck of the case that you had picked. “Legend goes it takes girls and strings them up in the rafters. This group of kids see this dead girl hanging in the cellar.”

"Anybody I.D the corpse?”

“Well, that’s the thing. By the time the cops got there, the body was gone.” You said. “So the cops were saying the kids were yanking their chains.”

“Maybe the cops are right.” Sam said, you shrugged your shoulders at his suggestion.

“Maybe. But I read a couple of the kids’ firsthand accounts. They seem pretty sincere.” You said.

“Where did you read these accounts?” Dean asked, you felt a heat slowly creep across your cheeks. It was an amateur move on your part, but there was no other sites that had any information on the events.

“Well, I knew we were going to be passing through Texas, so I searched through a few local…paranormal websites,” You slowly explained. “And I found one.”

“And what’s it called?” Dean asked, obviously not very amused by your choice of research material.

You bit your bottom lip, forcing a smile when you told the brothers. “Hellhoundslair.com.” You said. Both the brothers made something that was a mix between a scoff and a laugh at that ridiculous name. You couldn’t help yourself but smile at how bad it was when you said it out loud.

“Let me guess, streaming live out from Mom’s basement.” Dean remarked.

“Yeah. Probably.” You muttered, knowing well enough that he was right.

“Most of those websites wouldn’t know a ghost if it went and bit them in the persqueeter.” Dean commented, you rolled your eyes, as per typical whenever he made a remark.

“Look, we let Dad take off, which was a mistake by the way, “ Sam added, turning his head to glance over at his brother to make his point better. “And know we don’t know where hell he is. So in the meantime, we got to find ourselves something to hunt. There’s no harm in checking this thing out.”

“All right.” Dean agreed. “So, where do you find these kids?”

“Same place you always find kids in a small town like this.”

\+ + +  
And that would be the local restaurant called Rodeo Drive; the entire place was crawling with teenagers, especially the three that you were looking for. The first one that you interviewed was working behind the counter, you tried to get his input on the night while his other two friends sat at a table. Let’s just say they had a lot to say about that night. All of which made no sense for you or the boys.

“It was the scariest thing I ever saw in my life, I swear to God.” The first boy, Todd, started off the conversation. You knew this was going to be different, and not in a good way.

“From the moment we walked in, the walls were painted black.” Charlie, the one who was working behind the counter, continued this story.

“Red.” Was Todd’s correct answer.

“I think it was blood.” The girl, Courtney, leaned in over the table and whispered, her face scrunching up from the disturbing memory that still seemed to haunt her. You had to keep yourself from rolling your eyes at her exaggeration.

“With all these freaking symbols…crosses and stars…” Todd went on about the interior, leaning over slightly

“…Pentagons.”

“…Pentecostals.”

“Whatever. I had my eyes closed the entire time.” Courtney said, throwing a hand behind her shoulder and rolling her eyes.

“I can tell you this–no matter what anyone else says…” Todd went on, he leaned over slightly in his seat so the wooden table was pressing against his stomach.

“That poor girl,” Courtney chimed in.

“With the black…”

“Blonde…”

“Red hair, just hanging there. kicking.”

“Not even moving.”

But they had something to agree on. “She was real.” Courtney said.

“One hundred percent.” Todd added.

“And kind of hot,” Charlie mumbled to himself, trailing off into thought while you talked to him. You and the boys gave hma disturbed look. “Well, you know, in a dead sort of way.”

“Okay!” Dean finally decided to let this interview come to an end. You had to keep yourself from laughing from the look that he tossed over to his brother, hoping that he would get something useful at out the three teens that were now sitting on the picnic table together.

“And how’d you find out about this place anyway?” Sam asked. His brows were furrowed and his face was nothing more than priceless, obviously not wanting to hear another jumbled answer. But the three of them seemed to agree on one thing when all of them spoke up again.

“Craig took us.” And that, was the answer you had been waiting for.

\+ + +

You tracked down the infamous Craig at a local music store where he had been working at for the past few years. Stepping inside, familiar rock music filled your ears as you saw rows of records that couldn’t be resisted to touch while your fingertips ran themselves over the paper covers. But your attention was ripped away when Craig himself walked away from the counter to do something for just a few moments so he could put a few records.

“Gentleman, and uh, lady.” Craig said, you gave him a polite smile. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Yeah. You Craig Thurston?” Sam asked.

“I am.” He said.

“Oh. Well, we’re with the Dallas Morning News. I’m Dean, this is Sam and that’s Y/N.” Dean lied, and as per usual, the teen seemed to have believed him.

“No way. I’m a writer, too.” Craig said. He began walking towards the other side of records so he could put the rest away. “I write for my school’s lit magazine.”

“Well, good for you, Morrison.” Dean commented. He flickered his attention towards the records as he flipped through them. You knew that it was just a matter of time.

“We’re doing an article on local hauntings,” You said, stepping into the conversation. “And rumor has it you might know one.”

“You mean the Hell House?” Craig asked, an eyebrow arched up.  
Your lips twitched into a smile. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

“I didn’t think there was anything to the story.” Craig admitted, shaking his head slightly.

“Why don’t you tell us the story?” You pressed, wondering what was so special about this house. There wasn’t much on the place except that it targeted girls, the missing body was the real reason why you were so interested in this case. Now you could find more out.

“Well, supposedly back in the thirties, this farmer, Mordechai Murdoch, used to live there with his six daughters during the depression, his crops were failing.” Craig circled back towards the counter while he spoke of this legend. You and Sam turned around while you heard the rest of the story, Dean ventured off to look at some more records. “Didn’t have enough money to even feed his own children. So I guess that’s when he went off the deep end.”

“How?” Sam curiously asked, you watched from the corner of your eye as Dean ventured back towards the three of you right before Craig answered the question.

“Well, he figured it was best if his girls died quick rather than starve to death…so he attacked them.” That’s when the story slowly turned grim for a few moments. “They screamed, begged for him to stop. But he strung them up, one after another. And then when he was finished, he turned around and hung himself. Now they say that his spirit is trapped in the house forever, stringing up any girl that goes inside.”

Cue the lingering stares on you for a few moments, you rolled your eyes and let out a scoff of annoyance. You weren’t scared of a little sexist spirit. “Where’d you hear all of this?” You asked trying to keep the focus on the legend.

“My cousin Dana told me. I don’t know where she heard it from.” Craig said, his tone of voice dropped slightly when he continued talking. “You got realize I didn’t believe this for a second.”

“But you do now.” Sam said, Craig shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know what the hell to think, man.” He admitted. “Guys, I’ll tell you exactly what I told the police, okay? That girl was real. And she was dead. This was not a prank. I swear to God, I don’t want to go near that house ever again, okay?”

The look on his face was enough proof to make all of you believe that he wasn’t lying. You looked over at the boys, wondering if they were on board with checking more out into this house, and they seemed to be. Dean lightly slammed his fist against the counter and smiled at Craig. He thanked the teenager before the three of you headed out to find out where the Hell House was located. It seemed that all of you were going to be doing a little sight seeing.

\+ + +  
The shabby cabin was located just a bit outside of town. All of you had to walk a distance up a dirt path before you saw the wooden first story house come into view. Just the sight of the thing could make someone nervous, overgrown weeds and rotting wood weren’t never comforting factors to know that something had happened here.

“Can’t say I blame the kid.” Sam said, observing the house while it came closer into view.

“Yeah. So much for curb appeal.” Dean marked. All of you quietly laughed at the comment before trailing over a muddy path and headed straight up to see if there was anything you could find outside before stepping into the haunted house.

Sam peaked around the makeshift barn and the large amount of unused firewood while you peaked inside the windows to see if you see anything. But most of them were covered up with ratty curtains that didn’t have big enough holes for you to see through. You and Sam ventured back towards Dean to see what he picked up on the EMF reader. All though, the way that he tapped his finger against the contraption didn’t seem like a good sign.

“You got something?” Sam asked, heading over to see what the reader was picking up. It was making a rather good amount of noise, but it seemed that wasn’t good enough.

“Yeah. The EMF’s no good.” Dean said, still tapping his index finger against the glass before he dropped his hand towards his side again.

“Why?” You questioned.

“I think that thing’s still got a little juice in it.” Dean said, nodding towards the powerlines. “It’s screwing with all the readings.”

“Yeah, that’ll do it.” Sam agreed.

“Yeah.” Dean said, he shoved the reader back into his jacket pocket. “Come on, let’s go.”

All of you headed inside to the house, and all though it might have not been as graphic as the teens explained, it still was something else. You examined the interior; mostly something that you would expect from a house that hasn’t been used for more than seventy years. Dean whistled to himself as he overlooked the property before venturing more into the house, taking the first hall on the left with you and Sam following behind.

You walked into an empty room that had something more than just debris and burnt out candles, there was symbols all over the house. A familiar shutter sound made you realize that Sam was taking pictures for later for examination. You reached over and touched one, a wet substance sticked to your fingers, you rubbed the black spray paint together.

“Looks like old man Murdoch was a bit of a tagger during his time.” Dean said, observing the symbols that were painted all over the place.

You turned your head to see something that was something that seemed out of place with the rest of the other ones. Your brows furrowed in suspicion. a finger pointed at one in particular that too recent for any of this to make sense. “And after his time, too.” You noted. “The reverse cross has been used by satanists for centuries, but the sigil of sulfur didn’t show up in San Francisco until the sixties”

Your eyes jumped towards Dean when you felt an uncomfortable stare coming from him. “Exactly why neither of you get laid.” Dean muttered. Sam just looked at his brother with an annoyed glare, you scoffed at him.

“It’s because we’re too busy helping your stupid ass to have fun.” You remarked, Dean mocked you before walking towards the opposite wall that all of you had been staring at.

“What about this one? Either of you seen this before?” Dean asked. You looked over your shoulder to see what he was talking about. It looked like an upside down question mark with three different lines coming out at each end. This was something that you never saw in your life.

“No.” Sam said, heading up towards the both of you. He made sure to take a picture of it for later.

“I have…somewhere.” Dean admitted. He turned his head towards the side slightly, examining the symbol with more focus. But it seemed that nothing was coming to mind.

Sam leaned over slightly, his finger reaching up and touching the symbol, he discovered what you had previously. His fingertip became stained with a reddish black color. “It’s paint.” He said, examining it a little closer. “And it seems pretty fresh, too.”

“I don’t know, guys. I hate to agree with authority figures of any kind,” Dean said, turning around as he examine the place a bit more. “but the cops might be right about this one.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” You mumbled, crossing your arms over your chest.

While all of you were quick to make judgement, the banging coming from across the house was a good enough excuse to keep you staying to find out if the legend was in fact true. Dean nodded his head towards the door that was just a few steps away from him. You followed behind the brother with caution, making sure to make little noise as possible.

While the brothers pressed themselves against each side of the wall, you stood right across from the door with your hand lingering over the knob. Looking over at Dean, you waited for his que. When he nodded his head, that’s when all of you charged into the room.

“God!”

“Whoa!”

Your arms went up to shield your eyes from the blinding light, you felt two bodies bump against you from the surprise attack. Letting a few swear words slip from your mouth, you managed to drop your hands to see what was going on. A frown stretched across your lips to see what was happening. You were greeted with two dorky looking guys, and not a spirit like you had hoped.

“Ugh. Cut!” The one with the glasses called out. He dropped his camera towards his side, letting out an annoyed sigh. You looked at both of them with confused faces. “Just a couple of humans.”

“What are you guys doing here?” The second one asked, turning off his flashlight.

“What the hell are you doing here?” You questioned back at them.

“Um, we belong here.” Glasses stated. Your brow arched up, waiting for him to continue. “We’re professionals.”

“Professional what?” Dean asked.

“Paranormal investigators.” Glasses said. You felt your lips twitch into a small smirk, you watched as he shoved a hand inside his jacket and pulled out three cards for you to take. “Here you go. Take a look at that, boys and m’lady.”

You ignored his comment, yanking the business card out of his hand. What you read made you roll your eyes so far back in their head, only the whites were shown for a few moments before you looked back up at them. Just your luck. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” You muttered underneath your breath. You looked up at Glasses, his lips twitched into an awkward smile that was an attempt at flirting. Biting your bottom lip, you kept yourself from laughing.

“Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spengler, hellhoundslair.com.” Sam read off the card. “You guys run that website.”

“Yeah.” Ed said, you shook your head at this entire situation.

“Yeah. Yeah. She’s a huge fan.” Dean commented, pointing at you while he headed over towards the other side of the room. You rolled your eyes again.

“And we know who you guys are, too.” Ed said. He followed Dean, you looked at the brothers.

“Oh, yeah?” Sam wondered.

Ed cleared his throat before he spoke up again. “Amateurs looking for ghosts and cheap thrills.” Well, that wasn’t what you were expecting. You turned your head away so you could laugh a little bit before composing yourself so the other one could talk.

“Yeah, so, if you guys don’t mind, we’re trying to conduct a serious scientific investigation here.” Harry said, in a matter of fact tone.

“Yeah? What have you got so far?” Dean asked, he had opened up a few cabinets to observe the contents. But he was currently examining something that looked like night vision goggles.

“Har, why don’t you tell them about EMF?” Ed turned his head to look at hi friend.

“EMF?” You asked in a dumbfounded tone. You couldn’t help yourself but play along with their game for just a little bit longer. This was beginning to be too much fun.

“Electromagnetic Field.” Harry explained. He headed over towards their bag and pulled out something that looked like Dean’s reader, but more expensive and high tech. “Spectral entities can cause energy fluctuations that can be read with an EMF detector,” He headed back towards his friend with the contraption. He pulled on the antenna to make it longer. “Like this bad boy right here.”

Little subtle sounds of static started to come from it, but it wasn’t anything dangerous enough to make it known that a supernatural creature was around. But they thought it was like discovering hidden treasure. “Whoa. Whoa. It’s 2.8 Mg. It’s hot in here.”

“Well, technically, the spots where the spirit visited would be most likely cold and you have a much higher number than that..” You corrected Harry, but your lips twitched into a fake smile while you looked over at the boys, both of them had pretend looks of interests. “But my, how fascinating.”

“Huh. So, have you guys ever really seen a ghost before?” Dean curiously asked.

Ed turned his head to look at the oldest Winchester. His tone of voice went into a serious one. “Once.” God, these boys were making the urge not to laugh too hard. “We were investigating this old house, and we saw this vase fall right off the table.”

“By itself.” Harry said to you and Sam, as if that was something to be shaken up about. The last ghost that you faced almost made you road kill.

“Oh my, that must have been terrifying.” You pretend to speak in a shocked tone.

“Well, we didn’t actually–we didn’t actually see it, but we heard it.” Ed corrected his friend. “But something like that, it–it changes you.” Dean titled his head down, shaking it, obviously annoyed with what he was hearing. Sam just had a blank expression on his face, not sure how to react.

“I think I get the picture.” Dean said, crossing his arms over his chest. He turned his attention back to you and Sam, beginning to take a few steps towards the both of you. “We should go, let them get back to work.”

“Yeah. You should.” Harry muttered, still trying to act tough in front of the brothers.

You looked over your shoulders to take one more good look at the two investigators. You shook your head, ignoring the camera that was pointing at you while you headed out. Hopefully that was the final and last time you were going to see them during your stay in Texas. You don’t know if you could take another moment to keep yourself from laughing at their pitiful attempts of knowing anything about the supernatural.

\+ + +

The faulty legend of this house was beginning to bug you more than running into those two wannabe Ghost busters, you needed to get to the bottom of all to make sure what you were heading into was the real deal. You and Sam headed towards the public library to find out the history towards the Hell House. What you had discovered wasn’t what you had been hoping to find; the research had lead you to another man with a similar sounding name, but he didn’t seem to have any reasons to turn out into a homicidal spirit. But something was still bothering you about the case, so you and Sam decided to catch up with Dean to show him what you had learned.

Just as you stepped out of the library, you spotted the man walking down the sidewalk, heading back from the police station. You walked down the steps with Sam following behind, hoping that he had some good news that could shine some light on this case. All of you fell into sync, walking back towards the car that was parked just across the street.

“Hey. What do you got?” Dean asked the two of you.

“I couldn't find a Mordechai, but I did turn up a Martin Murdoch who lived in that house during the thirties.” Sam said, opening up the notebook with all the information that you and him had found during your search. Dean leaned in over slightly to read the notes. “He did have children, but only two of them, both boys. There was no record that he ever killed anyone. What about you?”

“The kids didn't give a clear description of the dead girl, but I did hit up the police station.” Dean said. All of you stepped off the pavement and headed directly towards the car. “No matching missing person’s—it’s like she never existed.” You crossed your arms over your chest, a little annoyed at the lack of evidence. “Come on, we did our digging. This one’s a bust. For all we know, those hellhound boys made up the whole thing.” 

“Yeah, all right.” You mumbled, letting out a quiet sigh.

“I say we find ourselves a bar and some beers and leave the legend to the locals.” Dean suggested. He opened up the driver’s side door and slid himself inside, having no idea what was coming to him. You felt your lips stretch into a small smile in anticipation.

You and Sam leaned down slightly so you were looking at Dean. Just as the man turned the key after shoving into the ignition, that’s when the loud music blared through the speakers. You watched as the Dean jumped up from fright at the noise, he frantically tried to turn down the noise while managing to flick on the wipers. You couldn’t help yourself but let out a laugh, finding this entire situation too amusing for your own good.

“What the…” Dean thought out loud. You opened up the up backseat door and chuckled a bit more before observing the man in the seat. He seemed to be rather pissed off at the next move in the prank war. But his little brother was eating up the victory with a grin.

“One. Me.” Sam stated, pointing a finger up before at his chest. Now it was a tie.

“That’s all you got? That’s weak.” Dean said, obviously not amused as the both of you. You and Sam continued grinning. “That’s bush-league.” 

“Oh, this is getting good.” You mumbled, throwing yourself against the seat.

You couldn't wait what the next prank was going to be, but you would have to wait until Dean hatched up another one on his brother. Because the three of you would be busy for the next bring break that came came into the case the next morning. But not in the way that you had hoped it would turn out.

\+ + +

It seemed that the legend of the Hell House was claiming to be true; another trio of teenagers decided to go lurking around the presence last night, and there was a dead body left to make this legend come. You observed the scenery of cops that lingered around the outside and the coroner’s van that was parked just a few feet away from the house was getting another passenger. You watched as two men pulled out a gurney with a body bag, the teenager’s body must have been in there after they cut her down. 

All of you walked up towards a man that had got done talking to one of the officers before he walked away. The man turned his head to look at the three of you, obviously presuming that you were part of this investigation after getting yourselves past the yellow tape that was guarded with at least a handful of cops. They didn’t want anyone to see what took place last night.

“What happened?” Dean asked the man, starting off the conversation.

“Couple of the cops say that poor girl hung herself in that house.” The man said. His attention lingered on the body bag for a few moments longer before looking at the three of you. Your brows furrowed, that would be an odd choice to want to off yourself. Most would have done it in the comfort of their own home if they were serious.

“Suicide?” Sam questioned, obviously taken back by the turn of events.

“Yeah. She was a straight-a student with a full ride to U.T., too. It just doesn’t make any sense.” The man mumbled the last part to himself, shaking his head slightly before walking off, leaving the three of you to linger on the events.

Everything didn’t seem to add up. Why would a girl who seemed to have it all planned out kill herself in an abandoned house? You had to rule this as foul play, but this wasn’t your call, so you turned your attention to the boys to see what the boys thought of this. You noticed that Dean had taken a few steps away from the two of you, his attention lingered around the body that was now being loaded into the back of the van.

“What do you think?” You asked the boys.

“I think maybe we missed something.” Dean said. He looked back at the three of you, obviously the growing concern that something was really happening was beginning to creep on him.

\+ + +

Darkness had fallen hours ago when all of you decided to head back to the house, but it seemed that it was going to be harder than you realized. A cop car was parked just outside with yellow police tape cutting off anyone was attempting to go inside again. You and the boys were crouched in the bushes, managing to get yourselves out of their sight while the cops did their sweep of the area after you accidentally stepped on a twig that made a much louder noise than you were anticipating. So now you had to peek through branches, watching as one of the cops wandered around the grounds to see where all of you had went.

“I guess the cops don’t want anymore kids screwing around in the house.” Sam whispered after the cops headed towards another spot that was just a bit away from where all of you were hiding.

“Yeah, but we still have to get in there.” Dean noted, looking around the place again, but his head turned when the sound of another twig snapping brought his attention towards the other way. He managed to make out the figures. “I don’t believe it.” 

You and Sam turned your heads to see who it was, a frown stretched across your lips—those wannabe investigators were back. But it seemed that Dean was going to use them in your favor to get inside that house. “I got an idea.” He whispered. Slowly getting up from the ground, he placed his hand against his cheek to make his voice louder. You bit your bottom lip to keep a laugh from escaping your mouth at what he shouted. “Who ya gonna call?” And that did the trick.

“Hey! You!” The cops shouted, noticing the strangers that were trespassing on a crime scene. But Ed and Harry scurried out of there, trying their hardest to outrun the men that were obviously more fit than they were. “Freeze! Get back here! Hey!”

You and the boys wasted no time in getting back into that house before the cops noticed you. Dean closed the door behind you after you snuck in last, you headed over towards Sam who had dropped towards his knee with the bag with all the gear that rested next to him. Grabbing the salt gun, you made sure to check it before cocking it back into place

Dean flashed the light around at the wall with that symbol that all of you had seen before. It seems that it was still holding his interest. “Where had I seen that symbol before? It’s killing me.” He thought out loud to himself. But he didn’t have much time before the cops decided to come back or worse, that spirit decided to find its next victim. And you weren’t quite in the mood.

“Come on. We don’t have much time.” You reminded the man.

All of you headed down to the basement where the teenager supposedly hung herself. You made it down the creaky steps and followed the tall figures that you could roughly made out through the moonlight that poured from the foggy window. Everything about the basement didn’t seem in good condition, along with the rest of the house.

You dropped your gun towards your side when there wasn’t a sight of a ghost yet, you took a few steps forward towards the shelves that were filled with questionable substances. Your nose scrunched up in discomfort when Dean decided to be brave and grab one of the mason jars, holding up the flashlight, he observed the murky pink water closely. 

“Hey, Y/N, I dare you to take a swing of this.” Dean said, you turned your head and gave the man and confused look, wondering why he was dragging you into this mess.

“The hell would I do that for?” You asked, keeping your voice low.

He looked back at the jar, a smirk spreading across his lips. “I double dog dare you.”

You shook your head, rolling your eyes at the man. “You’re such a child, sometimes.”

But your attention was ripped away from the challenge when all of you picked up on a scraping sort of noise that was coming from the other side of the basement. You positioned your gun back up, getting ready to take action, Dean placed the jar back on the shelf before heading over towards the source of the noise. As you followed behind, all of you trailed over towards a tall cabinet that seemed to be where the scraping noise was getting louder.

All of you took position, getting ready to shoot whatever was hiding in there. With your finger steady on the trigger, you turned your head slightly to see the next move, Dean nodded towards his brother to open the door. Sam slowly inched his arm towards the handle, he took another moment before he swung it open, but quickly retracted it back to get ready to shoot. But it wasn’t what all of you were expecting.

The sounds of squealing rats filled your ears when you looked down, a handful of them came running out, passing your feet. You jumped back slightly, but laughed at the change of events.

“Ugh! I hate rats.” Dean complained, stumbling a bit when all of them had passed his shoes to scatter somewhere to hide.

“You’d rather it a ghost?” Sam asked, finding his brother’s uncomfort amusing.

“Yes.” He admitted, you scoffed quietly.

You dropped your gun back towards your side for just a few moments. You didn’t seem to hear the sounds of growling come from behind you before it was too late. Turning your head slightly, you stumbled backwards when you saw an ax coming directly towards you. You managed to get your gun back towards a shooting position, but Sam took the first shot at the ghost, but it didn’t seem to faze it like either of you had planned. You pulled the trigger before it had a chance to swing again, you watched as it disappeared into just a smog of black smoke.

“What the hell kind of spirit is immune to rock salt?” Sam questioned, obviously the kind that you didn’t want to mess with right now.

“I don’t know.” Dean said, he turned around and headed back towards the stairs. “Come on! Come on! Come on!”

You were quick to follow on his heels, cocking your gun back just in case you needed to take another shot. But as you passed the shelves, you found that the ghost decided to take another swing. All you heard was the sound of wood breaking and glasses shattering before you stumbled back towards your knees, trying to cover yourself from the shards that went flying in your direction. You had little time to think about your next move, you just grabbed Dean’s awaiting hand that pulled you up with ease.

But just as you looked to see Sam was, he was dodging an attack from the spirit. He managed to block the swing from the ax with the gun, struggling, he kept the ghost occupied. “Go!” He shouted at the two of you. You wasted no time in running up the stairs, getting out of this house was the only thing on your mind right now.

You ran as fast as you could, trying your hardest to navigate your way through the dark house, all while a sexist and homicidal ghost was hot on your trail. No pressure. You managed to find the exit, but the next thing you knew you were stumbling out of the house and on towards the grass. You let out an oomph from pain after you felt Dean’s body slam into yours.

Sam had literally burst through the door, giving none of you another choice but to follow behind. But you lost your footing and found yourself squished between the bodies for just a few seconds before all of you were on your feet again. You looked up to see Ed and Harry, just gawking at the three of you with that damn camera pointed at the action. You groaned in annoyance.

“Get that damn thing out of my face!” Dean hissed, shoving the lens while he ran past the two of them. But neither of the men seemed to be fazed by the panic of the situation.

“Move! Go! Go!” You yelled at everyone, your pace picking up when you noticed the ghost was now lingering in the doorway with the ax hanging at his side. It only took a few moments before the investigators broke from their concentration and adrenaline set in.

“Run!” You heard Harry scream out loud before their steps could be heard from the distance. You looked over your shoulder again to see them running away from the house, but it was just a matter of time before the cops had shown up and stopped them. You let out a small laugh before running faster to join the boys back at the car before they went looking for you.

\+ + +

Back at the motel, you sat on the bed with your laptop propped on your thighs. You had been roaming around the internet for a while while Sam did a bit more research and Dean was doodling that symbol again. You pulled up that website again out of curiosity to see if they had posted anything new about that house.

“What the hell is this symbol?” Dean thought out loud. “It’s bugging the hell out of me. This whole damn job is bugging me. I thought the legend said that Mordechai only goes after chicks.”

“It does.” You said, looking away from you screen for a few moments to glance over at him.

“Right. Well, that explains why it went after you two,” Dean threw in a joke. You sighed and paid attention back towards the computer. “but why me?”

“Hilarious.” Sam muttered, shaking his head.

“Because you’re a little bitch.” You threw that one in, but changed the subject before Dean could have a chance to scowl at you for making a remark. “Legend also goes that he hung himself, but did you see those slit wrists?”

“Yeah.” Dean said, seeming not interested in what you had to say. His attention went back towards the drawing as he continued to color it in again.

“What’s up with that? And that ax, too.” Sam said. “Ghosts are usually pretty strict, right, following the same patterns over and over again?”

“His mood keeps changing.” Dean noted.

“Exactly. I’m telling you, the way that the story goes—" You said, clicking on a few different links before you pulled a new post about the house. You tilted your head to the side, taken back by what you read. “Wait a minute.”

“What?” Dean asked.

“Someone added a new post to the hellhound website.” You said, scrolling down so you could read the rest of it before finding yourself in the comment section. Mostly all of them were as fascinated with the twist in the story as you were. 

“Checking to see if your boyfriend made bail?” Dean slipped in that comment, you scoffed and scrolled up to the top to read the post to them.

“Listen to this-—’They say Mordechai Murdoch was really a scientist who chopped up his victims with an ax before slitting his own wrists. Now he is imprisoned in the house for eternity.’ Where the hell is this going?” You wondered out loud.

“I don’t know, but I think I might have just figured out where it all started.” Dean said. He had a grin on his face, as if he had discovered something amazing.

You dropped your attention back towards the website for a few moments; you clicked on a picture that lingered at the bottom right corner and pulled up a family photo of a man with six young daughters that people were claiming to be the man just a few days ago. Now this post came along and changed everything. You shook your head, wondering how all of this was beginning to change. This was definitely nothing that you had seen before.

\+ + +

Dean decided to swing around the music store again, it seemed that Craig wasn’t telling all of you the story about that night. You stepped inside the store, hearing rock music continuously play while a few people lingered around the place, looking at a few records. You noticed that Craig was heading away from the counter, obviously knowing that you had come back for a second visit.

“Hey Craig? Remember us?” Dean called out.

“Guys, look, I’m not really in the mood to answer anymore of your questions, okay?” He turned around and looked at the three of you. Craig seemed down, as if he had been put under a lot of stress. You wondered if it was because of the recent turn of events.

“Don’t worry. We’re just here to buy an album, that’s all.” Dean said, reassuring the teen. He began to waste no time in digging out that record he talked about while driving up here. “You know, I couldn’t figure out what that symbol was,” He spoke up again, all of you heading over towards Craig with the album. “And then I realized it could mean anything. It’s a logo for Blue Oyster Cult.”

“Tell me, Craig, you into B.O.C.,” You asked. Dean turned over the album so the teen could look at the discovery. He grabbed it and flipped it over. “Or just scaring the hell out of people?”

“Why don’t you tell us about that house—without lying through your ass this time?” Dean questioned, throwing in a quick look at the teen for added effect.

Craig let out a sigh, he placed the record towards the rest of them and leaned himself against the selves. he crossed his arms over his chest before he told the truth.

“All right. My cousin Dana was on break from TCU. I guess we were just bored, looking for something to do, so I showed her this abandoned dump I found. We thought it would be funny if we made it look like it was haunted. So we painted symbols on the walls, some from albums, some from some of Dana’s theology textbook.”

You didn’t like how this story was going, but you let him continue. “Then we found out this guy Murdoch used to live there, so we—we made up some story to go along with that. So they told people who told other people. And then these two guys put it on their stupid website. Everything just took on a life of it’s own. I mean, I thought it was funny at first, but…now that girl’s dead. It was just a joke, you know? None of that was supposed to be real. We made this whole thing up. I swear.”

The poor by was nothing more than a mess from the events. Guilt must have been weighing on him for what happened. You sort of felt bad for the poor kid. “All right.” You mumbled, not sure what else to say to someone in this kind of situation. You turned around and headed for the exit, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

“If none of it was real, then how the hell do you explain Mordechai?” Dean asked the two of you while heading back towards the door. You shrugged your shoulders, for once, not sure how to answer his questions. It seemed that was the only thing you had been doing this entire case.

\+ + +

There was something about taking a nice, hot shower that could melt away the day’s stress and kick start your mind into doing some needed thinking. You rattled your brain with ideas of what could be happening and why the legend was changing so quickly. And while you were washing your hair, the idea had came to you like a streak of good luck that you had been needing this morning. You didn’t want to face anymore possible setbacks while working on this case.

First thing this morning, your water was pumping out a brownish shade of water that you weren’t going to bother touching. Then you ran out of your favorite body wash, causing you to use the motel soap that you never dared touched, but you didn’t have a choice because Dean had the car. Then the damn spirit was beginning to bother you, wondering what could be causing the different variations of stories to make him change. Maybe it was all petty things, but this job was beginning to take a toll on your nerves.

The sound of the motel door being open and slammed shut, you thought it was Sam, coming back from your own room after trying to fix the shower. You thought nothing more of it until you heard the sound of another voice that you weren’t expecting to hear for a little while longer, thinking that he would be in town trying to get something that he so needed.

“Hey, I’m back.” Dean called out, expecting his brother was in the shower.

“Hey, where were you?” You asked him. You turned off the water and grabbed your towel, making sure to dry off your body quickly before stepping out towards the tiled floor so you wouldn’t slip and fall. “I went looking for you this morning, but of course, you were gone.”

“Oh, I went out.” Dean said. You rolled your eyes, knowing that there was something more to this story than he was getting at. “Where’s Sam?”

“My room. He’s trying to get the water to stop coming out black.” You explained, grabbing your shirt that you thought you had left on the counter. You patted around for the fabric, but all you touched was the cold countertop. Letting out an annoyed sigh, you realized you must have left it back on the bed by accident, along with the rest of your clothes. Just your freaking luck.

“Hey, uh, could you hand me that pile of clothes on the bed?” You called out to Dean, hoping that his idiot brain would be able to tell the difference between the two piles that you accidentally had mixed up.

There was a long pause; you pressed your ear to the door to hear what was going on out there, a mumbled swear word was heard before you heard footsteps coming towards the door. “Um, I can’t find them. Are you sure you didn’t bring them in there with you?” Dean asked, you rolled your eyes at his dumb question.

“No. I just feel like walking around the place in a goddamn towel.” You muttered to yourself. You opened the bathroom door just a crack so you could peek your head out. Immediately you spotted the pile that was lying next to Sam’s. You looked over at Dean, an annoyed glare became written across your face. “Dude, they’re right there.” You pointed, irritation lining your words.

He just gave you a small smile, throwing something that looked to be a small paper package towards a small paper package towards the table and headed towards the bed that you were pointing at. Picking them up, he headed over towards you and unwillingly tossed them over towards your direction. You managed to catch them and threw them towards the counter top. You slammed the door shut and grabbed your jeans, unknowingly stepping into one of the pranks that Dean had set for his brother.

“So I was thinking I might have a theory about what’s going on.” You said, buttoning up your jeans and grabbing your shirt next to put on.

“Oh, yeah?” Dean asked.

“Yeah. What if Mordechai is a tulpa?” You wondered out loud. Only hearing about this kind of creature a few times, you had thought it could be the thing that you and the brothers were dealing with.

“Tulpa?” Dean questioned, not sure what you were getting at.

“Yeah, a Tibetan spirit thought form.” You said, opening up the bathroom door to see Dean with his back turned to you. You watched as he jumped slightly, you furrowed your brows at him at his suspicious behavior. You continued to button up your shirt and adjusted it a bit so you were now fully dressed.

“I know what a tulpa is.” Dean said. He scratched the back of his head, acting rather weird around you that was beginning to make you suspicious, but you weren’t quite catching on. “Why don’t you continue getting ready? We’ll grab something to eat after Sam’s done.”

And with that, he walked over towards the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind you, leaving you alone with questions about what had just happened. You shook your head and went back to your motel room to get ready for the day. Twitching slightly, you scratched your leg that seemed to suddenly began to itch like crazy. You ran your fingernails over the denim until there was nothing left but a dull, throbbing pain on the red skin.

\+ + +

You felt your nails dig into your arm, trying your hardest to calm down the feeling of something pricking your skin to a minimum. You forced a smile when the man behind the counter handed you the cups of coffee that you ordered back at the restaurant where Charlie worked at. Grabbing your cup, you managed to head over towards the small table with the creamer and sugar that you needed for your drink. You reached for a packet of sweetener, but you immediately dropped it and began scratching your shoulder. Suddenly the itching was beginning to feel like little insects crawling all over your skin.

“Dude, what’s your problem?” Dean asked you, watching as you twitched in your spot.

“Nothing. I’m fine.” You mumbled. You forced yourself to act normal, dumping the sugar and creamer into your coffee before putting the lid back onto it.

“Yeah?” He asked again, you threw him a glare.

“Yeah.” You hissed underneath your breath.

“Alright, so keep going. What about these tulpas?” Dean asked you and Sam. All of you grabbed a table to talk more about this possible explanation of the creature. The youngest brother pulled out his laptop that he seemed to take everywhere, he busied himself with pulling up the picture that he had taken back at the hell house while you caught up the other one.

“Okay, so, there was this incident in Tibet back in 1915. A group of monks visualize a golem in their heads.” You explained, setting your coffee down on the table and taking a seat between them. “They meditate on it so hard, they bring the thing to life out of thin air.”

“So?” Dean asked, bringing his cup to his lips.

“That was twenty monks. Imagine what ten thousand web surfers could do.” You said, the possibilities were endless. You reach up to scratch your neck again when you felt a tickle coming on again. “I mean, Craig starts the story about Mordechai then it spreads, then it goes online. Now there are countless people all believing in the bastard.”

“Okay, wait a second—you’re trying to tell me that just because people believe in Mordechai, he’s real?” Dean questioned. You shrugged your shoulders, squirming in your seat, another itch settled on your skin again. It was beginning to grow everywhere now.

“I don’t know. Maybe.” You mumbled.

“People believe in Santa Claus. How come I’m not getting hooked up every Christmas?” Dean asked, you rolled your eyes at his logic.

“‘Cause you’re a bad person.” Sam remarked before turning the laptop towards you and Dean. “And cause of this. That’s a Tibetan spirit sigil on the wall of the house. Craig said they were painting symbols from a theology textbook.” You glanced back from the laptop to Sam while he continued talking. “I bet you they painted this, not even knowing what it is. That sigil has been used for centuries, concentrating meditative thoughts like a magnifying glass.”

“So people are on the hellhound website, staring at the symbol, thinking about Mordechai.” You said, you twitched again in your seat. “I mean, I don’t know, but it might be enough to bring a tulpa to life.”

“It would explain why it keeps changing.” Dean said. He took another sip of his coffee, never taking his eyes off the symbol. You were practically squirming straight out of your seat now from the tingling sensation that was crawling all over your skin now. And it was only getting worse by each time you tried to scratch it.

“Right—as the legend changes, people think different things, so Mordechai himself changes like a game of telephone.” Sam explained, his eyes slowly trailed over at you, growing concerned at your twitching. “And that also explains why the rock salt didn’t work.”

“Right. ‘Cause he’s not a traditional spirit per se.” Dean said. “Okay, so why don’t we just get this spirit-sigil thingy off the wall and off the website?”

“It’s not that simple. You see, what’s tulpas are created, they take a life of their own.” You mumbled, your concentration slowly drifting from the conversation. Lotion. You needed lotion or freaking something before you tore your skin off. This was beginning to be worse than the time you caught the chicken pox when you were younger. An oatmeal bath didn’t seem like such a bad idea, after all.

“Great.” Dean mumbled, knowing that this case was becoming harder for the three of you than he was realizing. “All right, so if he really is a thought form, how the hell are we supposed to kill an idea?”

“Well, it’s not going to be easy with these guys helping us. Check out their homepage.” Sam typed in the website name again, pulling up a new video about last night’s encounter. Your lips twitched into a frown at the horrible attempts of giving the ruined footage some special effects to make it look scarier than it was. “Since they posted the video, the number of hits have quadrupled in the last day alone.”

“Huh.” Dean was quiet for a few moments before he spoke up again. “I got an idea come on.”

“Where we going?” Sam asked, closing his laptop while reaching down to grab the leather bag that he carried it here with. You scratched the back of your neck, trying to concentrate.

“Gonna find a copy store.” He simply said. He grabbed the cup of coffee and got out of his seat.

You couldn’t take it anymore, you were scratching and squirming. This entire situation was beginning to make you go mad. “Man, I think I’m allergic to your soap or something.” You grunted out, wiggling to keep the itching to minimum. But Dean’s laughter caused you to put the pieces together. That little bastard. “You did this?” Dean just kept going, enjoying the prank that he pulled on you. You gritted your teeth in anger, following behind the man. “You’re a freaking asshole!”

Dean just threw his arm up in the air, finding this as a victorious moment for himself. You shook your head in anger. You were going to get that man back when he was least expecting it. You just had to figure out a plan…Right after you got yourself to stop scratching. That was the most important step, you thought to yourself.

\+ + +

After getting yourself a new change of clothes and forging a death certificate, you and the boys swung around where the ghost hunters were currently calling their layer. Dean pounded on the metal door rather loudly, knowing that it would get their attention. You could hear voices coming from the inside, but they stopped after the rude interruption came from the oldest Winchester.

“Who is it?” Harry called out.

“Come on out, guys. We hear you in there.” Dean shouted, his voice echoing inside the metal trailer. It was a few seconds before you saw the two nerds pop their head out. “Look at that. Action figures in their original packing—what a shocker.” You softly hitting his arm, giving him a fake glare before turning your attention towards the men.

“Guys, we need to talk.” Sam said at the two men.

“Yeah, um, sorry, guys.” Ed stepped out of the trailer with Harry on his heels. You kept yourself from rolling your eyes at his attempts at looking macho, all while standing in front of the brothers that towered over him. Hell, you could take these two losers if you wanted to. “We’re a little busy right now.”

“Okay, well, we’ll make it quick. We need you to shut down your website.” Dean said.

“You know, these guys get us busted last night.” Ed turned his head to look at harry, acting as if the three of you weren’t standing in front of them. “We spend the night in a holding cell.”

“I had to pee in front of people, and I get stage fright.” Harry told you a piece of information that you didn’t need to know. Your nose scrunched up in disgust.

“Why should we trust you guys?” Ed questioned the three of you.

“Look, we all know what we saw last night, what’s in that house.” You started off in a calm tone, but you immediately turned it into a stern one. “But now, thanks to your website, there are thousands of people hearing about Mordechai.” Dean opened his mouth to speak, but you put up a finger to stop him. You weren’t done yet. “Which means, thanks to you idiots, people are going to keep showing up and running into him. Somebody could get hurt again.”

“Ed, maybe she’s got a point.” Harry murmured, looking over at his partner.

“No, no.” Ed simply said. You gave him a glare, he just smirked at you. “We have an obligations to our fans, to the truth.”

You pretended to laugh, before you gave him a threatening glare while you leaned in slightly to make your point. “I have an obligation to kick both your little asses—"

“Y/N, hey, hey.” Sam reached out an arm to stop you. “Just forget it, all right? These guys—you could probably just bitch-slap them both.” You pretended to let out an annoyed sigh, all while going along with plan. “I could probably even tell them that thing about Mordechai.” That seemed to get their attention. “But they’re not gonna help us. So let’s just go.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” You mumbled, following behind the brothers as they started back towards the parked Impala. But that lasted for a few moments before the two trailed behind you.

“What did you say about—hold a second here.”

“Yeah, what thing about Mordechai, you guys?”

“Tell them, Sam.” Dean muttered, still not stopping.

“But if they agree to shut their website down—" Sam argued, you cut him off,

“They’re not gonna do it.” You said. “You said so yourself.”

“No, wait, wait. Don’t listen to her, okay?” Ed shouted, you felt your lips twitch into a smirk before you turned around and pretended to give Sam a look. “We’ll do it. We’ll do it.”

You bit your bottom lip to keep yourself from smiling, you remained calm. “It’s a secret, Sam.” You whispered to him. The man let in a breath before turning around and facing the wannabe hunters with defeat.

“Look, it’s a pretty big deal, all right? And it wasn’t easy to dig up, so only if we have your word that you’ll shut everything down.” Sam said, pointing a finger at the two men.

“Totally.” Ed said, smiling to prove his point.

“All right.” Sam mumbled. He looked at his brother to start up the next part of the plan. Dean pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it before handing it to Harry. “It’s a death certificate from the thirties. We got it at the library. According to the coroner, the actual cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.”

“That’s right.” Dean went on. “He didn’t hang or cut himself.”

“He shot himself?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Yup, with a forty-five pistol.” You lied to the man. “To this day, they say he’s terrified of them.”

“They say if you shoot him with a forty-five loaded with these special wrought iron rounds,” Dean explained to the men. “you’d kill the son of a bitch.”

You swore he could have told them that Santa Claus was real by the smile that spread across their faces. A laugh escaped your throat when you watched Harry waste no time and go sprinting off back towards the trailer, his arms flailing around while Ed tried to remain calm, the piece of paper still clenched between his fingertips. You looked over at the boys and smiled in victory. This was beginning to be easier than you thought it was going to be.

\+ + +

All of you settled down at a local diner for dinner; while Sam busied himself with searching the website, Dean was beginning to get on your last nerves. Manic laughter filled your ears once more when you turned your head to look at that damn fisherman that hung on the wall just above the man. You leaned over in your seat and tugged at the chain, stopping the laughter.

“If you pull that string one more time, I’m gonna kill you.” You threatened to Dean, not breaking your eye contact with the man. But he didn’t listen. You watched as he pulled the string, but you were quick to pull it back. You frowned at him when he just laughed, finding this entire situation amusing, unlike you.

“Come on, Y/N.” Dean said, you rolled your eyes and took another sip of your beer. “You need more laughter in your life, you know? You’re way too tense.”

You slammed your glass against the table, ignoring his comment. “They post it yet?” You asked Sam, getting the conversation back on track. Sam turned around the computer so you could read the new post out loud. “‘We have learned from reputable sources that Mordechai Murdoch has a fatal fear of firearms.’ All right. How long do we wait?”

“Long enough for the new story to spread and the legend to change.” Sam said. He slammed the laptop shut and shoved it off towards the edge of the table. “I figure by nightfall, iron rounds will work on the sucker.”

“Sweet.” Dean said, grabbing his beer while Sam signaled for a cheers.

All of you clinked glasses before reaching up and pressing it back to your lips. You watched as Dean took a large swing of his your lips twitching into a vengeful smirk when you made eye contact with Sam. Both of you began chuckling when Dean tried to set the bottle down, but he couldn’t now, thanks to your genius plan. Dean waved his hand around, but the beer still wouldn’t come loose from his palm. You couldn’t help yourself but burst into laughter, knowing that you had gotten him back when he least expected it.

“You didn’t.” Dean said. He was staring at you with widening eyes,it seemed that he wasn’t expecting your move in this little prank war. The victory only seemed sweeter.

“Oh, I did.” You admitted, bringing up the superglue that you had hidden in your pocket. Sam laughed to himself, clapping at your surprise move. You leaned over and pulled on the string, letting the manic laughter taunt Dean. Laughing again, you watched as he continued to try and shake off the bottle, but it wouldn’t get itself unstuck. Your lips stretched into a smirk when you looked back at the man. “Your move, Dean.”

\+ + +

It seemed that little fisherman would have come more in handy tonight than you realized. You paid one of the waitresses fifteen bucks for the annoying toy, making up some bogus story about having it sentimental value from your childhood. She seemed more happier to let it go for free, complaining that all the kids would pull the string and make that ridiculous noise, some of the participants being grown men. But as they say, women mature faster than men, or just not at all when it came to the oldest Winchester.

You and the boys went back to the Hell House a little after midnight. While they got the ammunition ready, you lead the police on a little goose chase across the woods with the fisherman’s laughter echoing throughout the air, taunting them as it did to you earlier tonight. With little time to spare, you hooked the string towards a twig and perched it up against a stronger branch and you bolted for it,letting the manic laughter echo through the air. You just kept that your shoes crunching against your shoes wouldn't be heard from the officers. Looking over your shoulder; you felt yourself let out a breath of relief. There was nobody in sight.

While the cops were running rampant around the place to find the noise, all of you took your chance to sneak inside the house again to end this hunt once and for all. You trailed behind the brothers, fingers wrapped around the gun with the special bullets locked in the chamber. Dean was the first one to step inside, taking a sweep of the place before signaling for you and Sam to follow behind when the coast was clear . All of you made another look around the place to see if there was anyone home, but there seemed to be only silence.

You kicked the door shut with your foot and continued to follow behind the brothers, but keeping yourself on high alert. You didn't feel like going at it against with this spirit. The quicker this job was done, the happier you would be.

“I barely have any skin left on my palm.” Dean complained again, his tone of voice only a whisper, but you could hear him from standing just a few feet away from him. You let out a sigh, knowing that he still wasn't over the move that you pulled on him.

“I’m not touching that line with a ten-foot pole.” You muttered, still not breaking your concentration from sweeping the area again for precaution. But you quickly pulled an arm to shield your eyes from the blinding light that Dean flashed in your eyes, you shoved him away and pointed for the other side of the house that still needed to be checked.

All of you made your way towards the other side of the house with caution, but there was still no sign of Mordechai’s ghost anywhere. You followed behind after they made a sweep of the room that you were familiar with, but it was just for added measure. Adjusting your grip on the gun, your eyes trailed towards the door towards the basement. If there was any place where the spirit could be hiding, there was no denying that the lower level of the house was his favorite.

“Well, you think old Mordechai is home?” Dean asked the both of you.

“I don’t know.” Sam admitted.

“Me either.” A strange voice spoke up.

Without breaking your concentration, you quickly turned around and pointed your gun straight at whoever spoke next. But your arms dropped towards your side when you realized who it was, the last two people that you wanted to see again. Ed and Harry were standing in the doorway, their hands up in a defense position, obviously taken back by the sudden change of atmosphere. The boys dropped their guns and let out an annoyed sigh of annoyance.

“Whoa! Whoa.“ Ed shouted in fear. "Hey, whoa.”

“What the hell are you trying to do, get yourself killed?” You barked at the duo.

‘We’re just trying to get a book and movie deal, okay?” Ed admitted. You shook your head and rolled your eyes at what Ed said, it was greed for fame that clouded their judgement. They needed to realize that something like that wouldn’t happening if they kept putting themselves in danger like this. If you weren’t here, they would probably be dead by morning, you thought to yourself.

But your attention was ripped away when you heard the familiar sounds of something like metal behind sharpened, all of the noises were coming from the closed door. You wasted no time in drawing your gun back up, getting ready to shoot whatever came out next. Footsteps could be heard from behind and soon someone leaning over you. It didn't take much for you to realize that Ed was hiding behind you, the camera focused on the door to capture the moment Mordechai decided to say hello.

“Oh, crap.” Ed muttered underneath his breath when the noises were getting louder. You wanted to laugh at how much of a baby he was being. “Uh, guys, you want to open up that door for us?”

You turned your head slightly so you were looking at him straight in the eye, a smirk spreading across your lips when you caught the fear that he kept trying to hide. “Why don’t you?”

None of you needed to do anymore than turn your heads back to see that the door that burst open itself, revealing the man of the hour; Mordechai–and he didn't seem very happy at the five of you visiting with the growls that he threw at all of you as a warning. He threw up his ax, getting ready to charge, but you wasted no time pulling the trigger to stop yourselves from becoming nothing more than another victim in this little game.

You kept pressing the trigger until there was nothing more left and Mordechai’s ghost vanished into a pile of black smoke, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. That wasn't supposed to happen. You looked around the room to see if he was anywhere else around, but you were alone with your pounding ears. Sam and Dean overlooked the room before searching outwards to see if they could find out where he went. You shoved the gun into the back of your jeans, there was no bullets left to shoot if he decided to come back. You hoped he wouldn’t, but that was wishful thinking for your kind of luck that you’ve been given these past few days.

“Oh, wait a minute. Wait, is he gone?” You turned your head to see Ed was standing next to you with his eyelids pressed together in fear. Opening up one slightly, he let out a breath of relief when he caught the nodding gesture from you. “Oh. he’s gone.”

“Did you get him?” Harry asked his partner. He looked away from the basement door and back towards the camera that was cradled in Ed’s shaking hands.

“Oh, yeah, they got him.” Ed said, missing the point of the question.

“No, on camera.” Harry corrected himself, gesturing towards the device. “Did you get him on camera?”

“Oh, uh, I–” Ed fumbled around to hit the playback, but Harry ripped the camera out of his hands, growing impatient. “Let me see it. Let me see it.” The other man grumbled out, pressing a few buttons, becoming completely oblivious towards what was about to happen to him.

When you looked up, you didn't have a chance to warn them for what was about to happen. Mordechai was back, and he swung down his ax against the camera, breaking the plastic into tiny little pieces and making Harry fall towards to the floor in fright. Just as you tried to do something, the spirit vanished again from sight. You grumbled out something in frustration, but you quickly bent down and helped the man up from the ground.

“Hey!” Dean shouted at the investigators, entering the room a little bit late. Sam came running back just a few moments later, his back pressed itself against the door, trying to catch his breath after rushing back to see what happened. “Didn't you post that B.S story we gave you?”

“Of course we did.” Ed said.

“Yeah, but then our server crashed.” Harry admitted, you rolled your eyes at the news.

“So it didn't take. So these guns don’t work.” Dean snapped at the two, waving the gun around.

Ed swallowed quietly before nodding his head. “Yeah.” He mumbled out.

“Great.” Dean flashed them a sarcastic smile before looking over at his brother. “Sam, any ideas?” But his brother just shrugged, not sure what could get this thing gone.

“We are getting out of here.” Harry declared, making a ran for the door. Glancing over his shoulder, he let out an annoyed sigh when he realized that Ed was standing there, not sure what was the right thing to do. He came back and grabbed his friend with both hands by the shoulders, tugging him forward. “Come on, Ed.”

You watched as the two investigators wasted no time and went directly for the door. As you began to wrack your brain for ideas to fix this situation, your attention was ripped towards the sound of very familiar screams. Nothing, nothing was going easy for this job, it just kept getting progressively more annoying with each second that passed by. You bolted for the door, knowing what you had to do, even though you didn't want to risk your life for those idiots that caused you nothing more than a headache. But it was better than the guilt you would feel if they got butchered to death because of your neglect.

Running around the house, you followed the voices until you were standing at the edge of the hall that went towards the back of the house. Ed and Harry were backed into a corner, just seconds away from being slaughtered, you shook your head at their cliched attempts at trying to get themselves free. You had another way, and that was called a distraction. Mordechai had a thing for chicks, and you were just what he was looking for. 

“Hey!” You shouted at the spirit, Mordechai looked over his shoulder. You threw your hands up in the air, a smirk spread across your lips. “Come and get me, you ugly son of a bitch!”

Mordechai wasted no time in shifting who he wanted to kill next, you were going to be a perfect choice than the other two he had planned. You watched as he swung the ax at you, but you were quicker than he was, dropping yourself towards the ground before you were back on your feet again. You felt your breath being knocked out of you when you managed to take a hold of the wooden part of the ax for just a few moments before he slammed you against the wall. You had little breath left, but you weren't going to waste it for a stupid reason.

“Get out of here!” You yelled at the two men between small moments of breath. You found yourself finding it hard to breathe now when Mordechai pressed the wood harder towards your neck, cutting off your breathing entirely. The two men wasted no time when you screamed at them again, scurrying out of the room before it was too late. You knew you should hadn't wasted your breath, but you weren't as weak as Mordechai thought.

You fought back for precious moments of breath air. But the lack of oxygen was beginning to take a toll on your mind and body. Slipping slightly in your grip, the spirit took it as a chance to pin you harder against the wall. Your feet dangled off the ground now, everything was beginning to become blurry. You need air. You need air, now.

“Sam! Dean!” You cried out, trying your hardest now to keep yourself conscious.

You could hear the sounds of footsteps against the floors before someone’s familiar voice brought the attention towards him. Everything was happening so quickly. The next thing that you knew you were being dropped against the ground, managing to avoid a sudden burst of flames that came tumbling your way. You quickly shield yourself from the intense heat, but Mordechai stumbled backwards, distracted by the makeshift fire. Dean’s voice you back towards reality again of the situation. You were on your feet again when you found the chance.

“Go! Go! Go!” He commanded, but quickly followed behind you. You had little moments to catch your breath until the brothers were running towards the front door. “If Mordechai can’t leave the house and we can’t kill him, we improvise.”

You opened your mouth to question what Dean was talking about, but when he pulled out the lighter and flicked it back on again, you were quick to put the pieces together. Before you could stop him, he threw the lighter towards the ground and the house burst into nothing but flames. You and Sam gave the man a shocked look, but none of you had time to waste when you found Mordechai was coming after you with a very pissed off look on his face.

The three of you ran through the house until the cold air brushed against your flustered skin. You kept going until you were back in the bushes that were a good distance from the house. A breath escaped your lips when you looked at the home again, everything was slowly burning away.

“That’s your solution?” Sam questioned his brother, pointing a finger at the home. “Burn the whole damn place to the ground?”

“No one will go in there anymore.” Dean argued. The tone of his voice alone made you want to punch him for being so ignorant of how to handle the solution. “Look, Mordechai can’t haunt a house if there’s no house to haunt. It’s fast and dirty, but it works.”

“What if the legend changes again and he is allowed to leave the house? Hmm?” You asked, eyebrows arched up. “What’s your next plan, genius?”

Dean looked back at the house than at you again, obviously he didn’t think about that one little flaw. “Well, then, we’ll just have to come back.” Dean simply said. You widened your eyes in his sheer stupidity, you shook your head and sighed in annoyance. This boy would be lost without you or Sam, you thought to yourself.

“Kind of makes you wonder–out of all the things we hunted, how many existed because people believed in them?” Sam asked. That question caught you off guard, it was the type in which would make you think long and hard about what was real and what not. You didn't believe in monsters for so many years, and look how your life turned out; you were fighting them almost on a daily basis. The mind was a dangerous thing, making you believe in all sorts of different fears, but every thought all had to come from somewhere.

\+ + +

You conned the brothers into saying one final, descent goodbye towards the ghost investigators before they were off again. You sat on top of the bench with Sam, watching from the corner of your eye as the other two came walking out from the convenience store with a few groceries for the road. You nodded towards them, smiling when you made eye contact.

“Gentleman.” Ed greeted, the three of you. “Lady.”

“Hi, guys.” Sam said, getting back up from the bench so he could follow the partners to their car, you and Dean trailed behind.

“Should we tell them?” Harry asked to the other, all of you oblivious towards what he was talking about. 

“You might as well, you know–they’re just gonna read it in the trades.” Ed said, you bit your bottom lip to keep yourself from smiling when you heard the news.

“So this morning we got a call from a very important Hollywood producer.” Harry said, glancing over his shoulder to look at the three of you. You gave him a look of surprise, smiling for an added touch of fake happiness for them.

“Wrong number?” Dean asked, amusing himself.

“No, dumb ass. He read all about the Hell House on our website and wants to option the motion picture rights maybe even have us right it.” Ed explained. He shoved the bag into the open car window before looking back at the three of you with a proud smirk.

“And create the RPG.” Harry added, as if you knew what that meant.

“The what?”

“Role-playing game.” Harry said, you nodded your head, still not sure how it would fit in with a horror movie. But you knew it was just another reason to lure them into the plan.

“It’s a little lingo for you. Anyhoo, excuse us.” Ed said, backing up slightly towards the car. “We’re off to La-La Land.”

“Congratulations, guys.” Sam said, flashing a small smile. “That sounds really great.”

“Yeah, that’s awesome.” Dean added on. “Best of luck to you.”

“Oh, yeah, luck–it’s got nothing to do with it. It’s about talent, you know, sheer, unabashed talent.“ Ed said, an arrogant tone shined through. Harry nodded his head, agreeing with his friend. "Later.” Ed flashed the three of you a piece sigh and Harry pointed at all of you before both of them got into their car. You shook your head, laughing quietly at their weird behavior.

The next thing that you heard was the car’s engine being turned on and someone calling out your name. Looking over your shoulder, you saw that Ed was staring at you with a proud smirk. You bit your bottom lip to keep yourself from blowing the plan. He took off his glasses and put the other hand on the wheel, the car slowly went forward. “See you ‘round,” He said, placing in a quick wink before he pressed on the gas and went off.

You looked over at the boys, both of them laughing at what just happened, heading back towards their own car. “Wow.” Dean mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I have a confession to make.” You said, walking up so you were now in sync with the brothers.

“What’s that?” Dean asked.

You cleared your throat, lowering your voice so it was almost unrecognizable from your normal phone. “I was the one who called them and told them I was the producer.” You admitted, heading straight for the back seat of the car. Sam shook his head, trying to act as if that wasn’t the right thing to do, but you could see the smile that tugged at the end of his lips. Dean just threw his head back laughing, find the entire situation amusing.

“Well, I’m the one who put the fish in their backseat.” Dean said, fetching out the keys from his jacket pocket. You laughed at the thought of their car being a horrible stench filling up their car in just a few miles. When all of you worked together to pull a prank, it was a pretty damn good one.

All of you were quiet for a few moments until Sam spoke up, he looked up at his brother with a small smile. “Truce?”

Dean thought about it for a few moments before he shrugged his shoulder, nodding his head in agreement. “Yeah, truce–at least for the next hundred miles.” Oh, this was going to be a fun car ride, you knew that for sure.

You opened up the car door and slid yourself back inside, Dean was blaring his rock music and Sam looked over at his brother with a smirk, thinking of all the ways to get back at him. You leaned back in your seat and let out a breath for a job well done. While they were trying to pull the best prank on each other, you had been planning since day one.

You just hoped Dean liked your new music collection you gave him and Sam was good at figuring out computer viruses before all his precious files were deleted, But being a good friend, you backed them up into yours if he was too late and his Dean’s cassette tapes somewhere safe. You just wanted to see how they would react. There was nothing better than using than using their weak spots against them, you chuckled to yourself and closed your eyes, sleep not far from your mindset.


	17. Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Bickering, bickering and more bickering.

You sat in the backseat of the Impala with your arms crossed over your chest, trying to concentrate on the possible hunt ahead for all three of you, all while trying to block out the brothers that kept arguing for the past forty miles of open road. All of you had arrived in Wisconsin just an hour ago with your actual destination just a little while longer, still not sure why you were heading there and not the next state over. There was a textbook hunt for all of you that Sam had found earlier in the week. But John had sent Dean coordinates to a small town a few days ago, making subtly known that there was something else that needed your attention first, the spirit would just have to wait.

When all of you looked to see what it was, none of you were quite sure if there was anything their father was trying to lead all of you there for. Questions were raised and tension began to surround the air, and that’s where it lead you to this moment. You clenched your head when you felt a pounding headache forming from the added stress of the brothers that had been building up for a while now. Dean, being the big brother he was, followed his father’s orders and didn't question anything when told. But Sam, he just questioned almost everything when given an order from his father, looked into every reason why he shouldn't do it and then focused his efforts on what he thought was right to him. You weren't saying that Sam was a bad child, he was just a handful at times, even for you.

You didn't know what it was like to have siblings, being an only child, you sometimes wondered what it would be like to have someone to share moments with while both of you grew older together, someone But when you saw the brothers go at it, like now, you were quickly reminded that you were happy with your situation. These idiots were the closest thing you would call brothers, and that was good enough for you.

“Yeah, you probably missed something.” Dean told his brother, trying to win the argument. You rolled your eyes again, knowing they were going at it again with no chance of stopping anytime soon. Here comes another migraine, you couldn’t help but think to yourself in a bitter tone.

“Dude, I ran LexisNexis, local police reports, newspapers—I couldn't find a single red flag.” Sam said, for what felt to be the third time to you. “Are you sure you got the coordinates right?

“Yeah, I double-checked. It’s Fitchburg, Wisconsin.” Dean said. “Dad wouldn't have sent us coordinates if it wasn't important, Sammy.”

“Well, I’m telling you, I looked, and all I could find was a big, steamy pile of nothing.” Sam argued to his older brother. “If Dad’s sending us hunting for something, I don’t know what.”

The next thing that came rolling out of Dean’s mouth made you flinch at the truth he kept denying to himself, it made you feel a pang of sadness for the man at the hope he still hung on to. “Well, maybe he’s gonna meet us there.”

“Yeah,” Sam forced a sarcastic at his brother at the thought of their father jumping out from the shadows that he had been hiding in for the past few weeks after what happened between all of you. “Cause he’s been so easy to find up to this point.”

“You’re a real smart ass, you know that?” Dean remarked, giving his little brother an annoyed glare. “Don’t worry. I’m sure there’s something in Fitchburg worth killing.”

“Yeah? What makes you so sure?” Sam questioned.

“Because I’m the oldest, which means I’m always right.” Dean said, you scoffed at his remark.

“No, it doesn’t.” You chimed into the argument.

“It totally does.” He retorted, trying to win this conversation that now had another player. You raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if he wanted to continue with this, knowing that you would somehow win, like always.

He looked at you in the rear view one more time before focusing his attention back on the road. Shaking his head, there was a small smile spreading across his lips before it disappeared completely.

\+ + +

Arriving in town in the late afternoon, Dean stopped for a quick coffee break to get all of you awake from the long drive you had to endure from your last destination. He took it as a chance to speak to a few people to see if there was anything even slightly suspicious to see if there was a reason why you were here.

You leaned against the hood of the car while you waited for your caffeine fix. The sight from across the street was keeping your attention, there was something about it that wasn't leaving a good feeling inside the pit of your stomach. Maybe it was because it was a little cold, or perhaps this town didn't have a lot of them, but that playground should be littered with at least a dozen children. But there was only one that you could see.

“Well,” You looked over your shoulder to see that Dean had come back with three cups in his hands and some information that sounded like it wasn't going to be useful. You grabbed your coffee when he handed it to you, the warmth soothing your cold hands. “the waitress thinks that the local freemasons are up to something sneaky, but other than that, nobody’s heard about anything weird going on.”

Just as the oldest was heading towards the car, you decided to test your theory to see if there was something strange going on or if it was just you being paranoid. “Dean, you got the time?” You asked the man.

“Ten after four, why?”

Never breaking your concentration from the playground, you answered his question with another one to see if the brothers could be thinking the same thing when you brought it towards their attention. “What’s wrong with this picture?” You asked them.

The brothers observed the playground for a few moments; watching as the little girl went from the swings towards the yellow monkey bars to continue her fun. It seems that they were beginning to pick up on what you had. “School’s out, isn’t?”

“Yeah.” You said, turning your head to look at them. “So where is everybody? This place should be crawling with kids right now.” They just shrugged their shoulders, but you weren’t going to give up on a possible lead to the reason why all of you were here.

Deciding to do a little more investigating, you left the brothers back at the car so you could take a little walk in the park. You casually strolled through the place while taking small sips of your coffee to keep yourself awake. The days of running around the playground and having fun as a small child crossed your mind when you watched the little girl going higher up. Her mother sat on the bench while flicking the paper pages of a popular fashion magazine. You stopped near her and observed the scenery, you glanced down at the woman when she noticed your linger presence, you smiled at her when both of you locked eyes for a few moments.

“It’s sure is quiet here.” You commented, making small talk with her.

“Yeah, it’s a shame.” She said, turning her attention back to her magazine. That caught you a bit off guard, and deciding to press your luck, you tried to get a bit more out of her to see what she meant by that.

“Why is that?” You curiously asked

“You know, kids getting sick.” She said. She looked up from her magazine again to make eye contact with you once more. “It’s a terrible thing.”

“How many?”

“Just five or six, but serious, hospital serious.” She explained, you nodded your head. “A lot of parents are getting pretty anxious. They think it’s catching.”

You smiled at her again before looking back at the little girl. Anything to do with children never kept a good feeling inside your stomach, especially when higher medical was needed to get involved. Maybe this was what John wanted all of you to take a look at, maybe not.

But it wouldn't hurt to check out to see if there was something going around than just the common flu that was wiping out these poor kids from living their lives like they were supposed to. You didn’t know what was nagging at you, but there was something about this town that made you feel like it was harboring a little secret that was causing this mess without realizing it.

\+ + +

Tugging at the bottom of your black dress, you heard the squeaking sounds of the car doors being opened then slammed shut before two pairs of footsteps came up to where you were standing for the past few moments. You looked up at the boys, a smile spreading across your lips to see the boys wearing the outfits that you had picked out for them. Admitting to yourself that you had did a decent job with the little choices of shop that you had around here.

All of you decided that going undercover as workers for Central of Disease Control was going to be the best way to figure out what was going on. But showing up in flannel and worn out jeans wasn't going to work out in your favor, so, you grabbed one of Dean’s many fake cards and did a little shopping to look the part. While the oldest Winchester busied himself with getting the I.D. ready to use, you spent yesterday picking up a few important things to tie the looks up to make all of you seem as professionals for the fake job.

“You ready?” You asked, looking at the brothers with a serious look.

Nodding their heads, you wasted no time in turning around and headed straight for the hospital doors, your high heels clicking against the pavement while you walked up the stairs and straight for the double doors. When you opened up one of them, you turned your head to see Sam observing the piece of plastic that his brother had handed to him just a few moments ago, a confused look was sketched across his face at what he read while the both of them followed after you.

“Dude, dude, I am not using this I.D.” Sam said, hovering over his brother with the plastic between his fingers. You grabbed the thing from his fingers to see what he was getting so upset over, your brows furrowed in anger at what you read.

“Why not?” Dean asked, as if he was clueless about what he put on the I.D.

“Because it says ‘Bikini Inspector’ on it, you idiot.” You hissed, giving Sam back the piece of plastic while you turned your head and continued to look down the hallway while you began to walk faster, a sigh of annoyance escaping your lips at the humor that Dean tried to play.

“Don’t worry. She won’t look that close.” Dean reassured the both of you. “Hell, she won’t even ask to see it. It’s all about confidence, Sammy.” And with that being said, he quickly turned his brother around and shoved him towards the nurse’s station and pulled you towards the other side of the hallway to keep the both of you from blowing the cover.

Looking over your shoulder slightly, you watched as the entire bloody situation unfolded into a mess. Sam, being the one to act on the drop of a hat, rolled with what what his brother had put him into. A flash of his smile could get him anywhere with the ladies. “Hi,” He greeted the woman at the desk. “I’m Dr. Jerry Kaplan, Center for Disease Control.”

And the dreaded question that made you squeeze your eyes shut, suddenly you could hear the pounding footsteps against the floors from security to throw all of you outside… “Can I see some I.D.?” She politely asked.

Dean’s laugh soon came nothing more than stifled when you threw a punch towards his arm, flashing him a stern look before turning your attention towards the other side of the waiting room before any unwanted attention was drawn. “Yeah, of course.” Sam said. He took out the I.D. and held it out at an arm’s length away for a few seconds, not giving her enough time to inspect it for long enough for her to read it. And it seemed to work. “Now, could you direct me towards towards the pediatrics ward?”

“Okay,” She began with the directions, you felt your lips twitch into a smile at the relief that flooded over you. “Just go down that hall, turn left and up the stairs. You’ll see them.”

“Right. Thank you.” Sam said, he turned around and headed back to you and Dean. In just a blink of an eye his smile dropped towards that infamous Bitch Face. You bit your bottom lip to keep yourself from laughing, knowing that it was directed only at his older brother.

“See? Told you it would work.” Dean tried to change the mood with flashing Sam a smile while throwing his hands up in the air for an added effect. But it wasn't working.

“Follow me.” Sam said, shaking his head. “It’s upstairs.”

You wasted no time in doing what you were told, trailing behind the youngest Winchester while Dean took one more look at the nurse before following behind you. All of you had fallen into a silence while walking the halls, you couldn't help but feel at an unease whenever you were in a hospital, knowing that some of these rooms were filled with patients that might not see another day. You remembered the time that you were one of them with little chance of living more than a month, but here you were again after the boys pulled a move, trying to see if a handful of kids were going to see if they had the same amount of luck as you did.

While you passed a room with an open door, you looked over your shoulder to see that Dean had stopped walking and was staring in at with the most unsettling look in his face. Your eyebrows furrowed, wondering what had gotten his attention like that, he acted like this on rare occasions. You called out his name, drawing out the man from his concentration, he glanced over at you with a blank stare. You nodded your head towards the hall, he wasted no time and caught up with you and Sam, while all of you continued walking, Dean took one more look at the room before concentrating on where he was walking.

All of you managed to track down the pediatrician that was in charge of this wing; he was doing his rounds around the place, giving you a perfect opportunity to see if there was something here that John wanted you and the boys to find. Following behind the brothers, you let Dean do most of the talking, your attention was slowly being placed on the room that was filled with the sick children while all four of you passed them.

“Thanks for seeing us, Dr. Hydecker.” Dean said, following behind the doctor.

“Oh, I’m glad you guys are here. I was just about to call the CDC myself. How did you find out, anyway?” Dr. asked, looking over his shoulder slightly before continuing to look straight ahead of him.

“Oh, some G.P.—I forgot his name—he called Atlanta and pretty much beat you to the punch.” Dean lied, his attention going towards the children that laid in the beds that all of you passed.

“So you say you've got six cases so far?” Sam asked, walking with hands in his pockets.

“Yeah, in five weeks.” The doctor said. All of you stopped at the glass wall that was keeping all of the children away from everyone else. You crossed your arms over your chest and looked back at him, wanting to hear what he had to say about this situation. “At first I thought it was bacterial pneumonia, not that newsworthy.” That explains why none of you could find out any information about this. “But now…”

“Now, what?” You questioned the man.

“The kids aren't responding to antibiotics. Their white-blood cells keep going down. Their immune systems just aren't doing their job.” He explained towards the three of you. “It’s like their bodies are wearing out.”

“You ever see anything like this before?” You asked, eyes trailing towards a nurse that needed something from the man. She smiled at the three of you before holding out a pen and clipboard with a paper attached. He signed his name while the nurse answered your question, but it still didn't leave a good feeling in the pit of your stomach out a good outcome.

“Never this severe. The way that it spreads—that’s a new one for me.” She said.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

“It works its way through families, but only the children, one sibling after another.” The nurse explained, your eyebrows furrowed at what she was telling you. Never had you heard something like this, maybe this was something that needed your attention, after all.

“You mind if we interview a few of the kids?” Dean asked, glancing back at the nurse.

She tilted her head to the side, the news still seemed to unsettle her. “They’re not conscious.”

“None of them?” You asked, your tone became softer.

“No.” She said, shaking her head.

“Can we talk to the parents?” Dean decided for the next choice, hoping that could lead the three of you to some needed answers for the questions that were beginning to pile inside your head.

“If you think it’ll help.” Dr. Hydecker said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Yeah, yeah.” Dean nodded his head. “Who was your most recent admission?”

\+ + +

A father with two daughters was admitted in the hospital just under seventy two hours ago was the one that was being questioned. He sat in one of the plastic orange chairs, rubbing his palms together while his tired eyes wandered around the place. It wasn't hard to notice the dark circles and bags that were beginning to accumulate from the added stress of the events that seemed to be happening one after another.

“I should get back to my girls.” He said, turning his attention towards the hall again.

“We understand that, and we really appreciate you talking to us.” You said, giving the father a smile before continuing the discussion. “Now, you say Mary is the oldest?”

“Thirteen.” He mumbled, shoving his hands on to his lap.

“Okay, and she came down with it first, right?” You asked. “And then…”

“Bethany the next night.” The father finished for you, you nodded your head.

“Within twenty-four hours?” Sam questioned the man.

“I guess.” He said, shrugging his shoulders, not getting the point of this interview. “Look, I already went through all this with the doctor.”

“Right. Just a few more questions, if you don’t mind.” Dean reassured the man. “How do you think they caught pneumonia? Were they out in the cold, anything like that?”

“No,” The father shook his head. “We think it was an open window.”

“Both times?” You asked, hoping to find some sort of pattern.

“The first time, I don’t really remember,” He admitted, “But the second time for sure, and I know I closed it before I put Bethany to bed.”

“So you think she opened it?” Sam asked, confusion rising in his voice.

“It’s a second story window, no ledge.” The father said. “No one else could have.” You tilted your chin up slightly, that alone made you suspicious of a possible reason to stick around a little bit longer to see if there was something really here.

You allowed the father to attend towards his children, knowing that he had to be itching to see their faces. You and the boys decided to call it quits and head back, but you still couldn't shake the feeling that something wicked was happening around this town. With only the sounds of your heels clicking against the floors for most of the walk, Sam’s voice coming from behind you made you jump ever so slightly, breaking you from your thoughts.

“You know this might not be anything supernatural.” Sam said. “It might just be pneumonia.”

“Maybe. Or maybe something opened up that window.” You pointed out.

“I don’t know, man. Look, Dad sent us down here for a reason. I think we might be barking up the right tree.” Dean said, agreeing with your thoughts.

“I’ll tell you one thing.” Sam said, making all of you stop at the end of the hall. You gave him a look, not sure what he was trying to get at. “That guy that we talked to—I’m betting it’ll be a while before he goes home.”

It took you a few moments to figure out what Sam was hinting at, but when it did, you were surprised to see him suggesting a little breaking and entering to figure out this hunt was worth your time. You decided that it couldn't hurt, after all, you might find something that could help all of you figure out what was happening to these poor kids.

\+ + +

You and the boys spent a good hour and a half searching the daughters’ for anything that could be deemed as usual. Going over almost every inch with a blue light with Sam, the only thing that you were getting was a cramped hand and a headache from the stress of dealing with something that you couldn't quite put your finger on. It was like walking into a room with your eyes closed and hearing something unusual from the other side, there was just something off putting about this. You needed to figure out what it was before you drive yourself insane.

“You got anything over there?” You asked the brothers, getting yourself back up into a standing position after going over the cracks of the walls again. Sam was going over the bedroom with with the blue light while Dean was trying to see if the EMF reader was picking up something.

“No, nothing.” Dean said.

“Yeah, me either.” Sam admitted. He dropped his hand towards his side and let out a breath of defeat. Looking over his shoulder, the youngest one decided that going over the window once more wouldn't hurt. He headed over and began to go over the top again, his eyes dropping towards the outside ledge, something caught his eye. “Hey, Dean and Y/N.”

You looked over to see what he was doing, you watched as he opened up the window. “Yeah?”

Sam scoffed at what he discovered, you headed over to see what it was. “You were right. It wasn't pneumonia.” He said, getting out the way to you and Dean could take a look. You leaned over slightly to see what caught his attention. You were quick to notice the odd hand print that sent a chill down your spine, it wasn't something that you had ever seen before. “It’s rotted.”

“What the hell leaves a handprint like that?” You asked, now standing next to Sam so you could let Dean take closer inspection. You crossed your arms over your chest and watched as the oldest brother lean out and spend a good chunk of time observing the print before looking at the two of you.

“I know why Dad sent us here.” Dean said, getting himself back into a standing position. “He’s faced this thing before. He wants us to finish the job.“

\+ + +  
  
After spending the rest of the afternoon searching the entire house for any clues, you and the brothers decided to call it a night and find yourselves a motel. You listened carefully while the oldest Winchester explained the creature that was causing all of this mischief, something that you had never heard of before, but it was a monster that John didn't forget about all these years later. It seemed that this was one the one that got away, and he wanted the boys to finish his dirty work while he wasted his efforts on something else that was deemed more important.

The Impala pulled up towards the nearest motel that all of you could find, it seemed decent enough to crash at for the remainder of your stay in this town. You climbed out of the car, following behind the boys, mindlessly thinking about laying yourself down after a stressful day and eating something before crashing. All of you had long day, and there were only going to be more following this one. You slammed your door shut, an annoyed sigh escaping your lips when Sam kept questioning his brother about this monster.

“So what the hell is a shtriga?” Sam asked, standing at the opposite side of the car with his father’s journal close to his side after spending almost the entire ride flipping through it to find out more.

“It’s kind of like a witch, I think. I don’t know much about them.” Dean tried to explain while heading towards the trunk to get his belongings.

“Well, I've never heard of it, and it’s not in Dad’s journal.” Sam said, continuing to press harder for information.

“Dad hunted one in Fort Douglas, Wisconsin, about sixteen, seventeen years ago.” Dean said. He opened up the trunk and began to rummage through the things he glanced up at his brother for a few before continuing. “You were there. You don’t you remember?”

“No.” Sam said. He must have been six at the time and Dean around ten, there was a reason why the youngest one didn’t remember. It was such a long time ago since it happened, but the other brother seemed to remember the events quite well when he recalled them from memory.

“I guess he caught wind that the thing’s in Fitchburg now and kicked us the coordinates.” He said.

“So wait, this…” Your voice trailed off, not sure how to pronounce the name. “Shtriga.” Dean corrected you. “Right, you think it’s the same one that your dad hunted before?”

“Yeah, maybe.” Dean shrugged it off, slamming the trunk before heading off towards the check in, you and Sam following behind, hoping that the conversation was done. But Sam still had a few lingering thoughts that he wanted to share with the both of you.

“If Dad went after it, why is it still breathing air?” Sam questioned, you rolled your eyes again.

“Because it got away.” Dean simply explained.

“Got away?”

“Yeah, Sammy, it happens.” You muttered, becoming tired of the constant questions that kept running out from his lips.

“Not very often.” Sam pointed out.

“I don’t know what to tell you.” Dean said. “Maybe Dad didn't have his Wheaties that morning.”

“What else do you remember?” Sam asked his brother, stopping the man in his tracks just as he was heading for the front door.

“Nothing. I was a kid, all right?” Dean said, shrugging it off the question with another.

Brushing past Dean, you decided to leave the brothers alone to discuss whatever they needed to get the both of them to shut up. You opened up the door and stepped inside inside, heading for the front desk, you pressed your palm down on the silver bell to announce your presence when you saw nobody around. A few seconds later, you heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind the desk, and when you turned your head, you were surprised to see someone shorter than you appear in your sight.

It was a little boy that couldn't be much older than ten or eleven, the sigh that escaped him before heading up to you made it known that he wasn't very happy to service you. You looked in the back office to see that it looked like any other living room and kitchen; another little boy was in the background watching TV, that must have been his little brother he was watching while his parents were away. You dropped your gaze down when he asked you a question, you smiled slightly.

“King or two queens?”

You looked over your shoulder to see the brothers had fallen silent, Dean was doing something you couldn't see with his back turned to you while Sam leaned himself against the car and flipped through his father’s journal. You looked back at the little boy and answered. “Both.”

The boy looked over you, a small smirk spreading across his lips before he mumbled a comment that he thought you wouldn't hear, but you could, clear as day. “Yeah, I bet.” You were a bit surprised at the sass he was giving you. But he was a child, what else were you expecting? You weren’t exactly innocent at his age.

“What’d you say?” You asked, an eyebrow arched up.

“Nice car.” He said, flashing you a smile. You shook your head, but it turned to look over your shoulder when you heard the door open to reveal a woman with a few papers in your hands.

“Hi.” She greeted you with a warm smile. ”Checking in?”

“Yeah.” You said, smiling back.

She looked over at the boy, her face dropping into the kind that could be a mix of serious and stern. The kind you would give your child when you wanted them to do something. “Uh, do me a favor. Go get your brother something some dinner.” You were a bit taken back by the thoughts that you had before, it seemed that this was a family owned business. And with a few taunting similarities that made you think of another one that was just outside.

“I’m helping a guest.” The boy argued, but the mother just turned her head, giving him a look that you were familiar with, the kind that your mother used on you whenever you tried to talk back after she gave you a command. She headed over, he let out a sigh of annoyance before letting his mother take over. “Two queens and a king.” He mumbled before heading in the back again.

You couldn't help yourself but chuckle, watching as he attended towards his little brother. “Funny kid.” You commented, looking at his mother once more.

“Oh, yeah, he thinks so.” She mumbled, writing down something on a sheet. “Will that be cash or credit?”

“Do you take MasterCard?” You asked, pulling out your own card. Nodding her head, you smiled and pushed over the piece of plastic. “Perfect. There you go.”

“Thank you.” She said, grabbing it from the counter and swiping it while you signed your name on the piece of paper that she had previously pushed towards you.

When you finished your faulty signature, you put the pen down and glanced up, but your attention slowly went towards the brothers. You watched as the youngest one sat in the dining room chair, waiting for his glass of milk that was being poured by the oldest. Titling your head to the side, you suddenly wondered if this what life was like for the Winchester brothers, being locked up in some motel room while their father was away. All of their company was just the two of them at night, all alone and vulnerable. You chewed the inside of your cheek.

Sometimes you forgot that the brothers’ childhood was nothing more than just an endless stream of motels and the backseat of that damn car. All they had was each other. Suddenly you were more thankful than ever for your overbearing parents that pushed for a normal life for you. Never were you more grateful for the same walls of your bedroom when you woke up. Because sometimes nobody was as lucky as you were to be given a childhood, some of them have to grow up and be adults when they don’t want to be. You looked over your shoulder again and stared at him, someone like Dean.

\+ + +

You settle yourself down first in your own motel room before joining the brothers to see what they could find on this monster. What felt like forever of sitting at the island with a handful of books spread around the place, you were happy to hear Sam speak up, breaking the silence that was beginning to make your nerves grow more from the lack of evidence that you were finding. But the man was smart when it came to surfing the internet, he had found something useful.

“Well, you were right. It wasn't very easy to find, but you were right” Sam said, you let out a sigh of relief and slammed the book you were previously reading shut. Dean busied himself with getting another cup of coffee, he stood across from you while he listened to what his brother had found. “A shtriga is a kind of a witch. They’re Albanian, but legends date back to ancient Rome. They feed off spiritus vitae.”

“Spirit what?” You asked, your face scrunching up in confusion.

“Vitae. It’s Latin.” He corrected you. “It translates to ‘breathes of life,’ kind of like your life force or essence.”

“Didn't the doctor say the kids’ bodies were wearing out?” Dean asked, now leaning over while he busied himself with writing something down. But you couldn't tell what it was.

Sam shrugged, “It’s a thought. You know, she takes your vitality, makes your immunity go to hell, pneumonia takes hold.” He looked back down at his laptop and continued to scroll through the web page he pulled up. “Anyway, strigas can feed off anyone, but they prefer—”

“Children.” Dean finished the thought for his brother.

“Yeah. Probably because they have a stronger life force. And get this—strigas are invulnerable to all weapons devised by God or man.” Sam said. You rubbed your hands over your face, stress kicking back in into high gear, but Dean corrected his brother with some new information.

“No, that’s not right.” Dean said, heading over to his brother. “She’s vulnerable when she feeds.”

“What?” You asked, not sure if you heard him correctly. The only time she’s being capable of being killed was when she was sucking the life out of some innocent kid? Great. You knew this hunt was going to be tough, it always was when children were involved, the idea of the six other ones just lying in the hospital beds made your skin crawl with anger. You wanted this thing dead.

“It you catch her while she’s eating,” Dean began to explain, digging inside his duffel bag and pulled out a small, black leather journal. “You can blast her with consecrated wrought irons, buckshots or rounds, I think.” He headed back towards the island, you were quite impressed with the knowledge that he had on this witch. And here he was fooling you and Sam about not knowing what you were up against. It seemed that he was one step ahead of all of you.

“How do you know that?” You asked with curiosity.

“Dad told me. I remember.” He said, never gazing up from the papers that he had spread across the counter. You looked over at Sam and gave him a fake surprised look.

“Oh. So, uh, anything else Dad might have mentioned?” Sam casually questioned his brother.

“No, that’s it.” Dean mumbled underneath his breath. You and his brother just stared at him, wondering if he was going to spill anymore secrets that he seemed to be keeping. He seemed to have noticed the constant gaze from both of, he looked up after a few seconds. “What?”

“Nothing.” Sam said, turning his attention back to his laptop screen. Cue awkward silence…

“Okay, so,” You broke the tension that seemed to float around. “Assuming that we kill it when it eats, we've still got to find the thing first, which ain't gonna be a cakewalk. What the hell do these things look like, anyway? I mean, are we looking for big noses and green skin?”

“Strigas take a human disguise when they’re not hunting.” Sam explained, getting from the bed and heading up towards the counter where you sat still. You rolled your eyes in annoyance, knowing that this thing was going to be harder than you thought it was going to be.

“What kind of human disguise?” You asked, afraid to hear the answer.

“Historically, something innocuous.” Sam said. He grabbed a cup of coffee, you pointed at the cup for him to get you one for yourself, you smiled innocently at him. He rolled his eyes, but did it anyway while explaining what he learned. “It could be anything, but usually a feeble, old woman, which could be how witches as-old-crones legends got started.”

“Hang on.” Dean turned around and grabbed something from the table that was behind him, you watched him grab a map of the town and slapped it against the counter, just a few inches from where you were sitting.

“What?” You asked.

“Check this out.” Dean said, pointing at the three red marks he placed down on the map. You leaned in closer to see what he was trying to get at. “I marked down all the addresses of the victims. Now, these are the houses that have been hit for far, and dead center—the hospital. When we were there, I saw a patient, an old woman.”

“An old person, huh?” You remarked, raising an eyebrow up.

“Yeah.” Dean said, nodding his head.

“In the hospital? Whoo. Better call the coast guard.” Sam joined in your sarcasm, which didn't seem to amuse the oldest brother as it was for the two of you.

“Well, listen, smart asses, she had an inverted cross hanging on her wall.” Dean said. You jumped your gaze from your new cup of coffee, a bit taken back by that bit of news. He just looked at you and Sam with a smug look. You rolled your eyes and took a sip of your coffee. It seems that all of you had found a possible lead that you could work with. You just hoped it wasn’t a dead end.

\+ + +

All of you headed back to the hospital in the middle of the night, thinking the only people that would be there would be the cleaning crew and nurses on the graveyard shift. You walked around the empty halls with only the sounds of your footsteps echoing off the walls and the distant buzzing sounds from the floor cleaner, not sure what it was called. Just as the three of you were about to turn the corner, a pair of very familiar voices rang inside your ears. You quickly grabbed a hold of the boy's’ arm, stopping them from heading down any further.

“Goodnight, Dr. Hydecker.” The nurse from earlier today spoke up.

“See you tomorrow, Betty.” Dr. Hydecker said, his footsteps echoing off the walls while he slowly walked towards where you were standing with our backs turned to him. Hopefully he would just head on by, but the damn nurse kept talking.

“Try to get some sleep, Aaron.” She said, watching as the doctor nodded his head before concentrating on the long hallway that he was walking down.

When you heard the footsteps becoming softer, you looked over your shoulder to see that the doctor was nowhere to be seen while Dean peered over the corner to find the nurse had went into the other room. “Come on,” Dean whispered towards towards you and Sam. You wasted no time and headed down the hall, making sure that nobody saw you while going down another hall towards the patient’s room that the oldest Winchester thought was suspicious.

You saw the room come into view, Dean looked over his shoulder one more time before all of you headed towards it. Sam peered inside the small window, getting ready to open the door, but your attention was dropped towards the silver pistol that the oldest man decided to pull out, he the gun locked into place. You pulled your hand to stop Sam from opening up the door, you gave Dean a serious look. He shrugged his shoulders, you let out a sigh and dropped your hand towards your side, allowing him to continue, knowing it was better to be safe in these kind of conditions than having to explain what happened took a crowd of doctors while they shipped you off the loony bin.

Sam slowly opened up the door, Dean entering first while you trailed behind. You looked over to see nothing more than just an old woman sitting in a wheelchair. Her white, long hair was tangled and looked like it hadn't been attended to it quite some time. You saw from the corner of your eye as Sam pulled out his own gun, you just stayed behind far enough so that you weren't in the way in things turned south.

The brothers slowly headed towards the woman with guns pointed at her, while Sam stood behind her, Dean leaned over her. He slowly went in closer, wondering if she had died in her sleep from the lack of movement, he was now inches from her face—

“Who the hell are you? Who’s there?” She screamed, you had to press a hand towards your mouth to keep yourself from letting out an awkward scream from the stunt that she pulled on all of you. Dean stumbled backwards, frightened from her sudden outburst. While she waved her arms around, you took notice that she was blind, from the gray color in her eyes when you walked towards her. Sam flicked on the lights, knowing that all of you were in the clear. “You trying to steal my stuff? They’re always stealing around here.”

“No, ma’am, we’re maintenance.” You lied towards the old woman, giving the boys a panicked look, but they were just a clueless as you were to handle the situation. Dean rubbed a hand over his face, you sighed to yourself and continued. “We’re sorry. We thought you were sleeping.”

“Ah, nonsense I was sleeping with my peepers open.” She spoke in a faint Irish accent, and she seemed tough old broad,the kind that you wouldn't want to mess with. Even if she was blind—she had a quick tongue to put anyone in their place. She let out a wicked laugh, you shook your head at what was happening. “And fix that crucifix, would you?” Dean looked over his shoulder, and there it was, the thing that dragged all of you here. “I've asked four damn times already.”

Dean reached up a hand and flicked the cross back into place. You crossed your arms over your chest and gave him a look. He knew he jumped the gun on this one, the man wasn't usually this so eager to go into something without investigating just a bit further. You wondered what was causing him to cloud his judgement. But you didn't have to wait very long for the answer, it was closer than you thought it was.

\+ + +  
  
Morning had came rather quicker than you had thought it would, with the sun peaking out every so often through the clouds, the day seemed as a promising one to start fresh on this case. You and Sam were finding the situation at the hospital a bit more amusing than you should have been while Dean sat in the driver’s seat, his lips stretched into a frown. You knew he was upset about the lead going south, but you had to give him credit for at least finding enough evidence to start somewhere—the hospital seemed like a possible place where this soul-sucking shtriga could be hiding out.

Another laugh escaped you from you opened up your door and stepping outside towards the motel parking lot, Sam slamming his own shut while mocking the old lady in her odd accent. “‘I was sleeping with my peepers open.’” He repeated again, laughing while heading towards their room. But his brother was finding his little act even an ounce amusing.

“I almost smoked that old gal, I swear. It’s not funny.” Dean muttered, giving Sam an annoyed look, but he just kept laughing at the other brother’s misery.

“Oh, man, you should have seen your face, Dean.” Sam went on, his voice slightly rising while he tried to speak, controlling his laughter for just a moment. You shook your head at the brothers’ banter, you tried to hide your amusement with a glare, knowing that Dean was down about this.

“Yeah, laugh it on, man. We’re back to square one.” The oldest reminded you two, but you weren’t listening much now, your attention was on the little boy that had helped you check in.

He didn’t seem to look right while he sat on a bench, he looked overwhelmed and scared. Something made you want to check up on the poor kid to see if he was okay. You heard the motel door open just as you pointed a finger upwards, stopping Sam from stepping inside.

“Hang on.” You mumbled, stepping off the makeshift porch and heading towards the boy. You didn’t seem to notice the brothers looking at one another with slight confusion before following behind your trail. When you were close enough to the boy, you crouched down you so were at eye level with him. You gave him a warm smile when both of you made eye contact. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“My brother’s sick” He explained, his tone of voice was full of worry.

“The little guy?” You asked with concern.

“Pneumonia. He’s in the hospital.” His answer made your skin crawl in anger. The creature must have struck while the three of you were away, following the faulty lead. “It’s my fault.”

“No, come on.” You tried to reassure him. “How?”

You could hear him quietly sniffle before responding, he looked over at you again. “I should have made sure the window was latched. He wouldn’t have gotten pneumonia if the window wasn’t latched.” You dug your nails into your palm, you glanced over at the brothers for a few moments before back at the other one.

“Listen to me.” You said. “I can promise you that it’s not your fault, okay?”

But he wouldn’t break from the guilt that must have been gnawing at his conscious. “It’s my job to look after him.” He declared. You breathe through your nose, knowing the feeling quite well, you had been almost like a surrogate sister to the boys. And it killed you when one of them ever got hurt while all of you were together. But put all of the things that this kid had been going through, it was ten times worse.

Your eyes jumped up towards his mother who seemed to be a frantic mess. She stepped out of the front desk with an overnight bag and a pillow, supplies for her youngest son while his stay in the hospital. After closing the door, her attention weren’t on her oldest. “Micheal.” She called for him, he followed behind her while she began to load up their jeep. “Turn on the ‘No Vacancy’ sign while I’m gone. I’ve got Denise covering room service, so don’t bother with the rooms.”

“I’m going with you.” Michael tried to get his mother to agree with his plan, but she was quick to stop him.

“Not now, Michael.” She warned him. Her tone of voice was sharp and tired from the heavy stress.

“But I got to see Asher.” He argued, becoming angry with his mother’s plans.

“Hey, Michael.” Dean distracted the boy before he could try again. He took a few steps so he was closer now, he looked down at him with a small smile. “Hey. I know how you feel. I’m a big brother, too. But you gotta go easy on your mom right now, okay?”

You heard the backseat door slam shut before the sounds of something hitting the pavement caught your attention. Michael's’ mother had dropped her purse towards the ground, she let out a sharp breath before mumbling something. “Aw, dammit.” She hissed to herself, bending down to grab it, but Sam was quick to help the stressed out woman.

“I got it.” He said, handing her the purse. She weakly smiled and mumbled a thank you, clutching it to her chest now, just as you was about to head to the driver’s side, you noticed how badly she was shaking.

“You’re in no condition to drive. Why don’t you let me give you a lift to the hospital?” You offered to her.

“No, no, I couldn’t possibly—”

“No, no trouble. I insist.” You said, giving her a small smile. She looked at you or a few moments, but you reached for the car keys when she slowly handed them over. You clutched them and watched as she kissed her oldest son on the forehead before mumbling a command of being good. Dean helped her by opening up the passenger side door and waited until she was seated before slamming it shut.

As you walked towards the other side of the car, you stopped in the middle of the boys. Your face was nothing but serious. Normally Dean was the one that gave the commands, but with this case, you were feeling a bit more unease. The fact that this monster had struck again, and so close to where you and the boys were staying at, you felt responsible. “We’re gonna kill this thing. I want it dead. You hear me?” With the nod of their heads, you walked towards the car and drove the mother towards the hospital.

\+ + +

You didn’t know long you stayed at the hospital; morning slowly turned into the afternoon, a handful of nurses were in and out of the room, Asher’s mother never left her son’s side. You and her had a long chat while driving her to the hospital. You learned that she had only been a single mother since Asher was a baby. Her husband had passed away in a car accident, leaving her alone with the two boys and the motel to run. She kept saying she didn’t know how she did it for all those years without breaking down, but she kept going, knowing that she had to make sure that her boys were safe and fed well. Even if Michael had to watch his little brother from time to time, he never once complained about it, knowing that it was his job while she ran the business.

“We all had to make sacrifices.” She said, as if she had to explain herself to you. But you just nodded your head. “Michael is good brother, his father would be proud.” You felt your lips smile slightly, you couldn’t help yourself but think of the other set of brothers when she talked. They were so similar, it was odd.

Maybe that’s what was making you feel so drawn to protect these kids and Asher. Maybe it was because you didn’t want the blood of the innocent on your hands if you let this thing get away. You wanted nothing more than to just make sure they were able to live another healthy day. And you were willing to do anything to make sure another kid wasn’t going to end up in the hospital again because of that thing.

You somehow convinced Asher’s mother to take a break from doing nothing more than staring at her son, you slipped her some money and told her to go and the cafeteria to find something to eat. Making sure to hold a promise of keeping a close eye on her youngest son while she was away, and made sure to tell her if there was any changes. And with that, you managed to get her some fresh air while you watched the little one.

You leaned back in the hospital chair and looked at the poor boy, not sure what to do to pass the time. Lingering around, your eyes caught something hanging off the edge of the table with his belongings, you took notice of the hardcover book. You remember his mother saying something about how he loved to be read to at night. You grabbed the book and felt a smile spread across your lips when you noticed that it was a book of fairy tales, all classics that you had grew up to memorize, your fingers ran over the familiar titles. Suddenly you felt nostalgic, yearning for the days when you were a toddler, and your parents would read to you right before bed. You opened up the book and found a story at random. You began reading to Asher, almost forgetting about what was happening around you.

The story that you had been reading was the classic tale of Little Red Riding Hood. You were halfway through the story, making voices for the different characters and pretending as if he could hear you. Never once did you dare to look up, part of you kept telling yourself that he was still there, he was still clinging on to his life. And you wanted to let him know you weren’t going to leave him alone for one second.

You had come towards the part where the grandmother was swallowed whole by the wolf and Red was about to face the same fate as the older woman. “‘What a big mouth you have.’ The little girl murmured in a weak voice.” Your voice dropped into a lower tone when you spoke for the wolf. “‘The better to eat you with!’ Growled the wolf, and jumping out of bed, he swallowed her up too. Then, with a fat fully tummy, he fell asleep.” You continued reading the tale until you heard a familiar chuckle ring inside your ears that broke you from your concentration.

Looking over your shoulder, you frowned when you saw Dean standing in the doorway, his lips trying not to stretch themselves into a smirk at the sight of you. You slammed the book shut and placed it back on the table, knowing that you were more embarrassed at what you were doing. You watched from the corner of your eye as he approached the bed, his attention slowly going back towards the child that laid in it, still not steering awake from his long slumber.

“Don’t stop on my part, I was getting into it. Seems that you were, too.” Dean tried to lighten the mood with a joke. “What’s the next story?”

You rolled your eyes, diverting your attention towards the loose string that hung off the bottom of your shirt that was beginning to bug you. “Shut up.” You mumbled, a rosy tint crossing across your cheeks. Your attention went back towards the child. “You idiots find anything while I was gone?” Dean shook his head, your lips stretched into a frown. You had hoped they would have found a scrap of evidence to figure out what the hell was going on. But it seems that all of you were still stuck for the mean time.

Asher’s mother came back a few minutes later with a nurse trailing behind to check his vitals. You got out of the way and decided that it was time to leave, but while you grabbed your jacket off the chair, a ringing sound caught your attention. You dug inside your pocket to fetch out your phone, you noticed that Sam was calling you, wasting no time, you pressed it towards your ear to answer it.

“Hey,” You greeted him in a rushed tone.

“Hey, how’s the kid?” Sam asked, looking over your shoulder, he still wouldn’t move.

“He’s not good.” You admitted. “Where are you?”

“I’m at the library, trying to find out as much as I can about his shtriga.”

“Yeah, what do you got?” You asked, hoping there was something he had found in your absence.

“Well, bad news.” He said. You rolled your eyes at that, knowing that it was always something bad. “I started with Fort Douglas around the time that Dean said Dad was there.”

“And?”

“Same deal. Before that, there was Ogdenville. Before that, North Haverbrook and Brockway. Every fifteen to twenty years, it hits a new town.” Sam explained, but he fell silent for a few seconds, leaving a moment for you to catch your thoughts before he broke some more bad news. “Y/N, this thing is just getting started in Fitchburg. In all these other places, it goes on for months, dozens of kids, before the shtriga finally moves on. Kids just languish in comas and then they die.”

You felt your nails dig themselves in your palm when a rush of air began to cloud your mind. “How far does this thing go back?”

“I don’t know. The earliest mention I could find is this place called Black River Falls back in the 1890s. Talk about a horror show.” Sam remarked, becoming quiet for another few seconds he mumbled out something, finding a piece of evidence that he wasn’t expecting. “Whoa.”

“Sam?” You asked, your voice growing with worry.

“Hold on. I’m looking at a photograph right now of a bunch of doctors standing around a kid’s bed.” Sam said, you weren’t find much interest until he told you the disturbing part. “One of the doctors is Heidacker.”

“And?” You asked, not quite catching on yet.

“And this picture was taken in 1893.”

Your face dropped from that information, you and Dean locked eyes for a moment when he notice the panic that began to rise in your face. “Are you sure?” You asked, your voice dropping towards a whisper.

“Yeah. Yeah, positive.” Sam mumbled.

You let out a sigh, knowing that he would never lie about something like this. You closed your phone and looked back up at the oldest Winchester, he seemed confused at what was going on, so you told him what you had learned in a hushed tone. He seemed to be just as taken back with the information as you were, but his face hardened in anger when the doctor was in the room now. You clenched your jaw when you watched him sit at the edge of the bed, his hand resting against Asher’s forehead. He looked over at his mother, who was so vulnerable, not being able to see the monster in front of her.

You took a few steps towards the bed, never taking your attention off the man, it was taking everything inside of you not to rip the man’s throat out just to see what would happen. The doctor got up from the bed and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, your son is in good hands. I’m gonna take care of him.” He reassured the mother, you felt your skin crawl at his empty promise. But you felt your lips stretch into a convincing smile when you watched the doctor head over to you, now standing in front of you and Dean. “So what’s the CDC come up with so far?”

“We’re still working on a few theories.” Dean spoke up, remaining calm. “You’ll know something as soon as we do.”

“Well, nothing’s more important to me than these kids.” Doctor Heidecker lied straight through his teeth. You forced another smile. Stupid little prick. “Just let me know if I can help.”

“We’ll do that.” Dean said, watching as the man walked off, leaving the both of you alone only pent up rage that was growing with each moment that passed. You glanced over at Dean, he seemed to be lost in thought, but it wasn’t hard to catch his jaw that seemed to be clenching as hard as he could.

\+ + +

Back at the motel, you sat on one of the bed while you watched Sam pace around the room, Dean still seemed to be disgruntled with the news that he had discovered. “We should have thought of this before. Doctor’s a perfect disguise. You’re trusted. You can control the whole thing.” Sam went on, passing across the room before heading behind the small island.

“Huh.” Dean mumbled, getting off his bed while shrugging off his coat, he threw it towards a chair when his temper began to rise again. “That son of a bitch.” He grunted out in anger, you watched as he disappeared in the bathroom for a few moments.

“I’m surprised you didn’t draw on him right there.” Sam commented, you rolled your eyes, knowing well enough that you wanted to, but you didn’t feel like explaining yourself to the cops.

“Yeah, well, first of all,” Dean came back to the bathroom with a wet towel pressed to the back of his neck to calm his down. But you knew it was just a matter of time until he threw the fabric towards the wall again, anything to keep his temper in check. “I’m not gonna open fire in a freakin’ pediatric ward.”

“Good call.” Sam remarked.

“Second, it wouldn’t have done any good because the bastard’s bulletproof unless he’s chowing down on something.” Dean pointed out the lovely fact that you didn’t forget about. “And third, I wasn’t packing, which is probably a really good thing ‘cause I probably would have just burned a clip in him off of principal alone.”

“You’re getting wise in your old age, Dean.” You mumbled, watching as he continued to slowly pace around the room.

“You’re damn right. ‘Cause I know how we’re gonna get it.” Dean said, your eyes jumped away from the floor, you looked at him with a surprised look.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked, not sure what his brother was getting at.

“The shtriga—it works through siblings, right?” Dean questioned. He headed up towards his brother, you got up from the bed and followed behind, wondering what the oldest was trying to hint at. You had a feeling it was the kind of plan that was made out of desperation, but you listened anyway, hoping you were wrong.

“Right.” You said. You were now standing next to him, your arms crossed over your chest.

“Well, last night…” Dean’s voice trailed off, you finished his sentence, knowing what he was getting at. “It went after Asher.”

“Tonight it’s probably gonna come after Michael.” Dean said.

“Then we need to get him out of here.” Sam suggested.

“No. No, that would blow the whole deal.” Dean stopped his brother, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“What?” You questioned the man, face hardening with anger at what he was getting at.

“Yeah.” He simply said, you shook your head.

“You wanna use the kid as bait?” Sam asked his brother, surprise rising in his tone. Dean just gave him a look that was supposed to convince the both of you, but it just made you more angry. “Are you nuts?”

“No.” You pipped into the conversation again, expressing your opinion on the faulty plan. “Forget it. That’s out of the question. You should know better than to suggest something so stupid, Dean!”

“Sam, Y/N, it’s the only way—if this thing disappears, it could be years before we get another chance.” Dean tried to take control of the situation, his tone of voice rising, but you weren’t backing down.

“Michael’s a kid,” You pointed out. “And I’m not gonna dangle him in front of that thing like a worm on a hook.”

“Dad did not send me here to walk away.” Dean argued, you scoffed at what he just said.

“Send you here?” Sam questioned. “He didn’t send you here. He sent us here.”

“This isn’t about you, Sam.” Dean shouted, you watched as he turned around and headed towards the other side of the room. It seemed that the mood shifted from anger towards guilt in just a few seconds flat. There was more towards this situation than you or Sam realized. “I’m the one that screwed up. It’s my fault. There’s no telling how many kids have gotten hurt because of me.”

“What are you saying, Dean? How is this your fault?” You questioned. But he just stood there with his back tuned towards the both of you for the longest five seconds of your life. You sighed to yourself, knowing it was one of these kind of moments that you were just seeing the tip of the iceberg. “Dean,” You tried to get his attention again, but in a softer tone.

“You’ve been hiding something from the get-go. Since when does Dad bail on a hunt? Since when does he let something get away?” Sam kept firing questions at his brother, anything for the man to crack and tell you what’s been gnawing at his conscious. Both of you watched as he slowly turned around again and sat at the edge of his bed. “Now, talk to us, man. Tell us what’s going on.”

And he did.

“Fort Douglas, Wisconsin.” Dean spoke up after a few seconds. “It was the third night in this crap room, and I was climbing the walls, man. I needed to get some air.”

You listened towards the story with full interest; it as a typical night for the brothers that went tragically south. Dean was just a kid, he was stuck being in a motel room while his father was out hunting this thing, so he wanted to have a little fun. He left his brother alone for an hour, maybe a little more tops. But when he came back, Dean made a gruesome discovery. While his father was out hunting for the shtriga, it seemed that it wanted to make Sam its next victim. But Dean made it back just in time to save the day.

The look on his face, it made your stomach twist into nervous knots. He was just a kid when all of this happened, having to be locked in a motel room while his father was out, that wasn’t a lifestyle that these boys should have dealt with. But you could tell the guilt still weighed heavy on his soul, knowing that he almost got his little brother killed because he slipped up and wanted to be a kid, he wanted to have fun. You knew that none of this was his fault, but he didn’t seem to think like you. He was raised to be afraid of everything, think of the safety others first. He was taught everything a child shouldn’t think at such an innocent age.

“Dropped us off at Pastor Jim’s about three hours away. By the time he got back to Fort Douglas, the shtriga had disappeared. It was just gone. It never resurfaced until now. Dad never spoke about it again. I didn’t ask. But he, uh…” What Dean said next made you subconsciously rest your hand on his shoulder and give it a squeeze. “He looked at me different, you know, which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order, and I didn’t listen, and I almost got you killed.”

“You were just a kid.” Sam tried to make his brother feel better, but Dean didn’t want to hear it.

“Don’t.” Dean shook his head. “Don’t. Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it.”

“But using Michael for bait—I don’t know, Dean.” You said, dropping your hand back towards your lap. “I mean, what if one of us hides underneath the covers? You know, we’ll be the bait.”

“No, that won’t work. It’s got to get close enough to feed. It’ll see us.” Dean shot down the idea, a sigh escaped your lips, knowing that he was right. “Believe me, I don’t like it, but it’s got to be the kid.”

From the corner of your eye, you watched as Dean got up from the bed and walked towards another part of the room. You let out a breath with stress beginning to rise in your system. Rubbing your hands over your face, you hoped this plan would work. But there was just one problem. How were going to convince a ten year old to go along with a plan without sounding crazy?  
  
\+ + +  
  
“You’re crazy. Just go away or I’ll calling the cops.” Michael threatened while holding up the black phone to let the three of you know that he was serious.

Scratch that plan, you thought to yourself. It seems that being blunt to a little kid wasn’t as easy as either of you thought. But you couldn’t blame the poor boy acting this way with the stress that he had been forced upon these past few days. If a stranger told you that monsters were real at his age while your friend or mother got sick, you would be a little freaked out, too. There was something screaming inside of him to hang on to the lies that he was told, it would make things easier on his mind.

“Hang on a second. Just listen to me. You have to believe me, okay? This thing came through the window and attacked your brother.” Dean said, trying to get through to Michael, he decided to go with the personal touch to make him a bit more at ease. “I’ve seen it. I know what it looks like ‘cause it attacked my brother once, too.”

He slowly put down the phone and looked at the three of you for a few seconds. That seemed to be enough proof for him to realize what was going on was the real deal. “This thing—is it, like…it has this long black robe?” He asked, his face scrunching up in confusion while he told you what he experienced the night of the attack.

“You saw it last night, didn’t you?” You asked him, remembering what Dean told you about his own experience.

“I thought I was having a nightmare.” He admitted. You felt a quiet sigh escaped your lips, knowing that what he experience was real, and it broke your heart tell him something that nobody should ever know. Especially for someone his age.

“I’d give anything not to tell you this,” You said. You hated yourself for what you were about to say, but you knew it had to be done. “But sometimes nightmares are real.”

“So why are you telling me this?” Michael questioned. You looked over at Dean while you crossed your arms over your chest. This was his plan, and it seemed fair enough to ask the boy for his help. You had done enough to traumatize this poor child, it was his turn.

“Because we need your help.” Dean said towards Michael.

“My help?” The boy asked in confusion. His brows furrowed together, he looked at all of you as if all of you has grown a second head during this conversation.

“We can kill it, me and him, it’s what we do.” The oldest Winchester nodded towards his brother. “But we can’t do it without you.”

But your worst fear was beginning to come true;the look on Michael’s face slowly stretched from confusion into fear. All of this was starting to become too much for him to handle. “What? No.” He said, shaking his head.

“Michael, listen to me.” You spoke up again. Nothing but the blunt truth was going to make this kid come to his senses. “This thing hurt Asher, and it’s gonna keep hurting kids unless we stop it. Do you understand me?”

But the boy just shook his head, you let out a defeated breath. You knew there was no chances of getting him to talk again. All of you had backed this kid into a corner and he was scared. With defeat, you decided to head back to the motel room. Back to the drawing board for another plan of action.

\+ + +

You shoved your hands inside your back pockets when all of you convened back into the motel room after that disaster. The sun was now setting, which meant all of you had little time to until this thing struck again. It seemed like forever of just standing there and watching as Dean paced around the room while Sam sat at the edge of his motel bed, staring off into space, thinking of anything to get this hunt wrapped up. You knew there was no chance of killing this thing unless you had some sort of bait, but none of you were qualified, and the only person that could be next was avoiding you.

“Well, that went crappy. Now what?” Dean asked the two of you.

“What did you expect? You can’t ask an adult to do something like that, much less than a kid.” Sam pointed out, being extra sarcastic in this stressing moment. You rolled your eyes, knowing that your nerves were being extra tested tonight.

Just as you opened your mouth to bring up the plan you mentioned earlier, the attention in the room shifted towards the knocking that was coming from the motel door. All of you looked at one another with peculiar looks, not sure who it could be, the first thing that popped into mind was the cops. Dean was the one that walked up and answered it.

The person standing in the doorway wasn’t who you expected; it was Michael, and he seemed to have changed his mind about being apart of this plan.

“If you kill it, will Asher get better?” He questioned the three of you.

Dean looked over his shoulder, not sure how to answer that, none of you did. He glanced back at the boy to tell him the truth. “Honestly, we don’t know.”

Michael kept quiet for a few seconds. He swallowed before speaking up again. “You said you’re a big brother.” He said to the oldest Winchester.

“Yeah.” Dean said, nodding his head.

“You’d take care of your little brother? You’d do anything for him?” Michael asked. You knew he needed clarification for what the was about to do. And you couldn’t blame him.

“Yeah, I would.” Dean admitted.

“Me too. I’ll help.”

\+ + +

You didn’t like this plan going into it, but knowing that Michael was on board, it all gave you and the brothers a bit of time to devise a plan that seemed foolproof. With the No Vacancy sign lit up bright and all the customers tucked away for the night, that’s when all of you got ready for work to get this hunt started. You stood on your toes trying your hardest to position the camera that was hooked up to Sam’s computer at a good angle so it could capture the bed that Michael was lying in. This way you could keep tabs to know when the shtriga decided to come in and have a little midnight snack. You were one step closer ahead of this monster.

“This camera has night vision on it, so we’ll be able to see clear as day.” You explained towards the boy with your back turned to him. “Are we good?” You called out towards the brothers that were just in the next room.

“Hair to the right.” You heard Sam shout from behind the wall. You moved it just a few inches so it was now facing the window clearly for them. “There, there.”

“What do I do?” Michael asked, still not sure of the plan.

“Just stay under the covers.” You said. You headed over towards the bed, sitting on the edge of it while he asked another question. Just by his facial expression, you knew he was still scared to be apart of this plan.

“And if it shows up?”

“Well, we’ll be right in the next room. The boys are gonna come in with guns, so as soon as they do, you roll off this bed and crawl under it.” You said. You decided to let the brothers take this one, knowing that you didn’t want to take a chance accidentally screwing this up. There was too much at stake for any small flaws or mistakes in this hunt.

Michael looked down at his hands for a few seconds before looking back up at you. “What if they shoot me?” He questioned. You shook your head, trying to hide a smile from the frightened boy.

“They won’t shoot you. The boys good shooters.” You tried to reassure him. You could see a small smile form on his lips before it dropped down. So, you tried again. “I promise they’re not gonna fire until you’re clear, okay?” Michael nodded his head, seeming a bit more relieved. But another thought crossed your mind. “Have you heard a gunshot before?”

“Like in the movies?” He asked.

You sighed, making sure to prep him before he had to deal with a serious case of tinnitus like you had when you heard real gunshots for the first time. Boy, it wasn’t fun. “It’s gonna be a lot louder than the movies. So I want you to stay under the bed, cover your ears, and do not come out until they say so, you understand?” He nodded his head, his gaze slowly drifting somewhere else. A nagging feeling sat in the pit of your stomach. “Michael, are you sure you still want to do this? You don’t have to. It’s okay. We won’t be mad.”

“No, I’m okay. Just don’t let them shoot me.” Michael said, smiling slightly at his joke. You forced a weak one.

“We’re not gonna let anything happen to you. I promise.” You reassured the little boy one more time. Because you didn’t know if you could live with that kind of guilt if anything went wrong.

\+ + +

Your ass must have fell asleep an hour ago from sitting in this chair for so long, but you weren’t just about to move around, in fear that you would miss something important. Your eyes were glued towards the computer screen to see if there was anything suspicious activities, unlike the past few hours that had seemed to be filled with nothing. You watched as Michael tossed and turned, obviously not being able to sleep with the thought of something lurking out to get him. But it seemed that nothing was going to happen tonight.

“What time is it?” Dean asked, breaking the silence for the first time tonight.

Sam dropped his hand that was holding one of the headphones so he could look at his watch before pressing it back towards his ear. “Three.” He said. “You sure these iron rounds are gonna work?”

“Concentrated iron rounds.” Dean corrected his brother. “And yeah, that’s what Dad used last time.”

A small silence fell again for a few moments before Sam spoke up again. You looked away from the computer screen for a moment when you realized what he was doing. “Hey, Dean, I’m sorry.”

Dean looked at his brother, confusion rising in his facial expressions. “For what?”

A sigh escaped Sam before he answered. “You know…I’ve really given you a lot of crap for always following Dad’s orders, but I know why you do it.”

You couldn’t help yourself but roll your eyes and look back at the screen, knowing exactly what was happening. You were stuck in another brother bonding moment. “Oh, God. Kill me now.” You muttered to yourself, Sam chuckled softly at your comment. But as your eyes focused on something peculiar in the shot, you tilted your head to the side as you leaned in further to examine it better. Your face dropped when you realized it wasn’t a tree branch like you suspected. “Wait, look.”

Ever so slowly, you watched as something from the outside approach the window, and in just the blink of an eye, the window was opened by a simple push. You made sure it was locked and latched down before you left Michael alone for the night. It seemed that the wind couldn’t have just brushed it open by accident. Your little friend was here for a midnight snack. From the corner of your eye, you saw the brother slowly reach for the guns they had placed on the table next to the laptop.

“Now?” Sam asked in a whispered tone.

“Not yet.” Dean said.

You heard the lock into place, but still, none of you moved, knowing there was still more to be done before either of them could go barging into place. The figure that Micheal described was standing at the edge of the bed, but you watched as it slowly went towards the little boy, your nails dug into your palm from the fear that he must be going through. But you reminded yourself it would end in just a few moment’s time. You finally had enough of just staring at this mess, this plan needed to start rolling into action before you went busting in there yourself.

“Get in there and kill this son of a bitch.” You said, looking away from the computer screen so you were now staring at Dean straight in the eye. You were getting sick and tired of this waiting game. This needed to end tonight before another child ended up in the hospital because you were too late to catch this monster.

He glanced up towards his brother, a simple nod of the head was all that was needed before you watched as both of them jumped out of their seats and headed towards the bedroom.

Everything seemed to be going according to plan: You watched from the computer screen as the brothers busted down the door and stopped the shtriga before it could do any harm to Michael. A sigh of relief escaped you when you saw the boy manage to roll under the bed like you told him before the familiar sounds of gunshots rang inside your ears from the next room that echoed into yours. The figure dropped towards the ground from the multiple shots to the chest. They must have presumed he was dead at that moment. You pressed your nails into the fabric, watching in fear as Dean slowly walked over towards the body for further inspection. Something told you that it wasn’t dead, this was too easy, and unfortunately, you were right.

The next thing that came out of your mouth was a gasp of fear. You watched as the shtriga moved quickly, he was up from the ground in a few seconds, and in just a blink of an eye he had his hand wrapped around Dean’s throat. You began to curse at yourself when you saw as Dean was thrown across the room with little effort, your breaking point was Sam being the next target after following in suit like his brother. And it seemed that this witch remembered Sam. You jumped out of your seat and frantically searched for the gun that you had stored somewhere in this room for an emergency like this. But you stumbled to your feet with no weapon when you heard the sound of another gunshot ring in your ears.

You wasted no time in running towards the next room, you clutched the door frame to keep yourself from slipping when you entered. The sight was something that you weren’t expecting, but it was a pleasant one at that. Relief flooded you when you saw the scene like you had hoped; a dead shtriga lying just a few feet away from you with Sam unharmed and Dean holding a smoking gun after shooting this monster right between the eyes.

“You okay, little brother?” Dean asked.

Sam just layed on the bed, taking in deep breaths while holding up two thumbs to let the both of you know he was okay. You watched from the corner of your eye as Sam rolled off the mattress and Dean got up from the ground to help his brother. Out of curiosity, you made your way towards the dead shtriga, wondering what it looked like from all the talk that was about this monster. You noticed the thing looked like any normal person—minus the pale white skin and dead eyes. It was dead, but Dean decided that it wasn’t enough.

You flinched when you heard the sounds of three more gunshots that were shot a little closer than you would have liked, not noticing that the brothers had lingered by your side. But that seemed to have done the trick to make sure he was dead for good. You just hoped that this would make the children healthy again.

Turning your head, you saw a familiar face peeking up from the side of the bed. You smiled at the little boy. “It’s okay, Michael. You can come out now.” You called out, almost forgetting about him in the midst of the chaos.

You watched as he got up from the ground and slowly walked towards the three of you. His face was nothing more than surprised at what he saw. You felt your lips twitch into another smile when it turned to a look of victory at what he could accomplish. Sam placed a hand on his shoulder, obviously proud at the little boy for what he did. But your attention drew itself towards the oldest Winchester; the look on his face was priceless. Years and years of guilt for what he hadn’t done seemed to vanish. All you could now see was a look of relief, maybe even a bit of happiness, and that was good enough for you to be happy for.

\+ + +

While all of you enjoyed this happy ending, you knew there wasn’t much time to waste knowing there was another hunt waiting for the three of you. As you threw another bag into the trunk of the car, you noticed a familiar figure step out from the front desk. You waved and smiled at her when the both of you made eye contact.

“Hey Joanna,” You called out, heading up to her. “How is Asher doing?”

“Have you seen Michael?” She asked, answering your question with another.

“Mom! Mom!” You looked down to see the boy himself running out to greet his mother. The two of them embraced in a hug for a few seconds before breaking apart. “How’s Ash?”

“I’ve got some good news. Your brother’s gonna be fine.” She said, you felt your lips twitch into a smile at that. It seemed that everything worked itself on it’s own, another happy ending.

“Really?” Michael asked in a surprised tone.

“Yeah, really.” She said, holding her son’s head in between her hands for a few seconds before placing them on his shoulders. “No one can explain it. It’s just, uh, it’s a miracle.” You looked over at the boys, giving them another smile, knowing they were the ones that saved the day. “They’re gonna keep him in overnight for observation, but after that, he’s coming home.”

“That’s great.” Dean said, smiling at the mother.

“How are the other kids doing?” Sam asked out of curiosity.

“Good, real good. A bunch of them should be checking out in a few days. Dr. Travis says the ward’s gonna be like a ghost town.” Joanna explained.

“Dr. Travis? What about Dr. Hydecker?” Sam asked. Even though all of you knew what happened to him, he decided to amuse himself to find out an answer.

“Oh. He wasn’t in today. He must have been sick or something.” She said, shrugging it off.

“Yeah, yeah. Must have.” Dean remarked, smiling slightly.

“So did anything happen while I was gone?” Joanna asked her son.

Michael glanced over at three of you before at his mother. “No. Same old stuff.” He lied, shrugging his shoulders.

“Okay. You can go see Ash.” She suggested something that he must have been wanting to hear. You watched as his face jumped up in surprise.

“Now?” He asked.

“Only if you want to.” She said. It didn’t take long before Michael was running towards the car, excitement filling the air. Joanna laughed at her son’s actions, she glanced over at the three of you with a smile. “I better get going before he hot-wires the car and drives himself.”

You watched as she headed towards the car, leaving all of you alone once more. You let out a sigh before walking towards the back seat, you heard the trunk slam shut before the brothers followed behind. What came out of Sam’s mouth made you stop in your actions, obviously not prepared for something so truthful, something that you never really thought about.

“It’s too bad.” He said, you looked over your shoulder while stopping at your door.

“No, they’ll be fine.” You tried to reassure him.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant Michael.” He explained. He leaned himself against the car and glanced over at the jeep. “He’ll always know there are things out there in the dark. He’ll never be the same, you know?” You knew that he was right. You might have saved those children’s lives, but you had to tell the harsh truth to another one. “Sometimes I wish that…” Sam tired to finish his thought, but he stopped before letting out a forced laugh.

“What?” Dean asked.

“I wish that I could have that kind of innocence.” Sam admitted to the both of you.

All of you were quiet for a few moments, not sure how to respond towards that. You watched as the jeep drove off, heading towards the hospital, after a long pause, Dean spoke up towards his brother.

“If it means anything,” Dean said, you turned your head to see what he was going to say. “Sometimes I wish you could, too.”

With that being said, he got into the car and waited for the two of you to follow behind. You glanced over at Sam, who seemed to be stuck in his thoughts. You forced a smile before opening up the car door and sliding yourself inside.

Sometimes the most simplest things as childhood innocence could be a thing of envy. You never realize how lucky you are until someone craves for what they never had. You bit your bottom lip when you almost forget that that these boys were never real children, they were thrusted into this darkness without a choice, there was never any blissful innocence. And it breaks your heart all over again when you remember that you met them again when yours was taken away. It was a bittersweet moment.

Have someone that you missed for almost your entire life with the joy of having a family again. But then you get the fear, that constant feeling that someone, something is craving that thrill to kill you. Sometimes you wonder if you never met these boys, would life be better for the both of you? Would there never be any heartbreak, painful deaths of loved ones, lost innocence?

Questions. Questions. Questions. All you wanted was some answers towards why life worked out for the worse than others. It wasn’t fair, why are some dealt with heavy burdens while others have live in blissful ignorance?

As your mother would always say: You’re given challenges in life that you can handle, never are you given something that you can’t handle. For a big part of your life you kept telling yourself that over and over again—She was right, you can handle this. But with everything that had been going on for the three of you this past year alone, you began to think a little bit more. And you came to the conclusion that you were too blind to see.

She was a big, fat fucking liar.


	18. Provenance.

Same old scene, same old brothers.   
  
You pressed your drink of choice for tonight towards your lips; from the corner of your eye you examined the youngest Winchester as he sat at the table with his elbow propped up, the beloved journal was lying open with a newspaper resting next to it. Just across from you, the oldest was punching in some dirty blonde’s number as he flirted his way into her pants. You wondered half the time if these brothers were even related. Their behavior was the polar opposites, neither of which you felt like dealing with tonight. You weren’t in the mood to hear about a case and you sure as hell weren’t going to stomach another sleazy attempt at making Dean happy for the night.   
  
All you wanted to do was get just drunk enough to lull yourself to sleep, like always. But all those plans could be popped when you saw a familiar face try to get your attention. A groan fell from your lips when you saw Sam had found something. So much for a peaceful night.   
  
You pushed yourself off the bar when you spotted Sam’s long waving hand in the midst of the breaking group of bodies. You politely pushed your way through the crowded, making it a few seconds faster than Dean, who was trying to make every second count for his choice tonight, sometimes you wonder why you even help him at getting any women if he was just gonna dump them the next morning. But this was his way of keeping his humanity alive, you stopped questioning anything he thought was moral after the second month of traveling with the brothers.   
  
“All right, I think I got something.” Sam announced. He never took his eyes away from the newspaper that he was reading. You leaned over to see the headlines; a couple were attacked in their homes, their throats slashed. There had to be something in there that seemed suspicious. Which meant another case for the three of you.   
  
“Oh, yeah, me too.” Dean said. He placed two glasses full of beer towards the table. Looking over his shoulder, he kept his gaze on the woman that he was just flirting with. “I think we need to take a little shore leave for just a little bit. What do you think, huh?” He looked back at his brother before pointing at her now. “I’m so in the door with this one here.”   
  
“So, what are we today, Dean?” Sam sarcastically asked his brother. That’s one of the fun things about heading into a town that you’ve never been in. You could be anyone you wanted to and everyone would believe you with the right attitude. “Are we rockstars? Are we army rangers?”   
  
“We’re L.A. TV scouts looking for people with special skills. ” Dean admitted. You shook your head, laughing along with the brothers at his horrible white lie. “Hey, it’s not that far off, right?” He brought his own glass towards his lips, but stopped. “By the way, she’s got a friend over there. I can probably hook you up. What do you think?”   
  
You looked over at the bar again, you noticed a blonde standing next to the woman that Dean had targeted for the night. Titling your head to the side, you glanced back at the other brother. “I think she’s cute. Go for it, Tiger.” You joked, giving him a playful wink. “This way, I can get a break from the both of you for a night and we’re all happy.”   
  
“Guys, uh, no thanks. I can get my own dates.” Sam mumbled, keeping his attention on the newspaper. You rolled your eyes, you took another sip of your drink.   
  
“Yeah, you can, but you don’t.” Dean stated.   
  
Sam glanced up at his brother, you watched as his facial expressions changed into confusion with hints of anger. “What is that supposed to mean?” He asked, putting down the paper again.   
  
“Nothing. What do you got?” Dean questioned, getting the conversation back onto the reason why you and him were called over for. Sam dropped the newspaper towards the both of you, his finger pointed towards the article that you spotted earlier.   
  
“Mark and Ann Telesca of New Paltz, New York, were both found dead in their home just a few days ago.” Sam explained. You were listening, but Dean had his mind elsewhere, you watched from the from the corner of your eye as he looked over at the women just one more time. “Throats were slit, there were no prints, no murder weapons at all—”   
  
“Dean?” You called out, noticing that he wasn’t even bothering to pretend to pay attention. You gave him a glare when he looked back at you with a blank expression. You nodded your head towards his brother, you knew those women were going anywhere, Dean could spare two minutes to hear this possible hunt out. “Can you focus for all of five minutes?” You looked over back at Sam when the other one rolled his eyes at you.     
  
“No prints, no murder weapons, all doors and windows were locked from the inside.” Sam repeated the information again.   
  
“Could just be a garden-variety murder.” Dean said after taking another sip of his beer before placing it back down on the table. “You know, not our department.”   
  
“No, Dad says different.” Sam pointed out, his brother gave him a confused look.   
  
“What do you mean?” You asked.   
  
“Look.” Sam turned over the journal towards the both of you. It was opened towards an entry that had scribbles you couldn’t quite make out from the lighting, but you caught the map of New York State that was pinned in there. “Dad noted three murders in the same area of upstate New York. First one, right here, 1912.” He pointed towards a paragraph on the page beside it, he worked his way down. “The second one in 1945, and third in 1970. The same M.O. as the Telecast—throats were slit, the houses were locked from the inside. So much time passed between the murders that nobody checked the pattern except for Dad. He always kept his eyes peeled for another one.”   
  
“And now we got one.” You noted, grabbing your drink to take another sip.   
  
“Exactly.”   
  
“All right, I’m with you. It’s worth checking out.” Dean said, giving into this plan. “We can’t pick this up till the first thing, though, right?”   
  
“Yeah.” You mumbled, knowing that he would take no for an answer. You watched as he walked over towards the women again, picking up where he last left off. You rolled your eyes, taking one last sip of your drink until it was empty. Slamming it against the table, you knew someone was going to have a major hangover tomorrow, and it wasn’t gonna be you.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The next morning, you and Sam spent it sweeping over the house to see if there was anything that could lead you toward a suspect for these gruesome murders. Everything took longer than you expected, but since you were short a body for help, you weren’t quite surprised when you looked at the time after stepping out of the house.   
  
You glanced over at the car to see Dean lying in the passenger’s seat, still in the same position where you had left him a little less than two hours ago. The sight of him made an idea spark inside your mind for some fun. It would be cruel and unusual, but worth it for your own amusement, and a punishment for the boy that knew all of you had a job to do. But he wanted to have fun, now it was your turn to squeeze in a few chuckles   
  
Heading down the steps, Sam followed behind in your footsteps, but not having a clue towards what you had planned for his brother. Just as he headed towards the driver’s side, you stopped him for a moment. You leaned in and put your arm through the opened window, then you slammed your hand against the center of the steering wheel, allowing the blaring horn break the morning silence. Dean jumped up just a few seconds later after registering the sounds. You and Sam wasted no time in laughing at his panicked state. You opened up the back seat door and slid yourself inside, grinning at the oldest Winchester while he stared at the both of you with annoyance.   
  
“Oh, man, that’s not cool.” Dean muttered, slouching back down in his seat. He pressed his palm towards his pounding headache that you had caused him but, you didn’t feel an ounce of guilt.   
  
“We just swept the Telesca house with EMF. It’s clean.” Sam said towards his groggy brother. Dean lazily took off his sunglasses, but his eyes were still closed for a few moments. “And last night, while you were out…out.”   
  
“Oh, good times.” Dean chuckled out.   
  
You rolled your eyes, annoyed with the arrogant attitude that could still shine through while battling with this hangover. “Sam and I checked out the history of the house. No hauntings, no violent crimes, nothing strange about the Telescopes themselves, either.”   
  
“So if it’s not the house, and it’s not the people, then maybe it’s the contents-— cursed object or something.” Dean thought. You shook your head at his idea.   
  
“House is clean.” Sam said.   
  
“You said that.” Dean pointed out.   
  
“No, he means it’s gone.” You said, putting emphasis on the last word. Dean tilted his head up slightly, you got his attention. “No furniture, nothing.”   
  
“Where’s all their stuff?” Dean questioned. You shrugged your shoulders, knowing that all of you were going to have to do a bit more research on where they put all of it. But the place wasn’t something all of you weren’t quite expecting, and it was the place that you dreaded to be back into after so many torturous years of being dragged to by your mother.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Never in your life have you felt more out of place than you did right now. You tracked down the belongings towards an auction house not far from where the Telescas lived. Nothing says mourning over a couple like bidding on their furniture and drinking expensive champagne. You dreaded coming here, remembering all those afternoons wandering around the local boutiques in your hometown with your mother. She thought it was a cultural experience you needed, and it gave you a taste of what it was like to spend thousands in just one day.   
  
You had to admit you learned quite a bit about the history of art through those afternoons and met some quite interesting people that made the experience for what it was. But the rest of them were just rich snobs who liked to flaunt their money with forged paintings they thought were real. If only they knew that half of them were fakes. You always could spot the small initials that the artist left behind with a magnifying glass while nobody was looking. It became like a game for you when you got older, you needed something to pass the time.   
  
Even though you were accustomed to snobby, rich people, they weren’t accustomed towards the looks that the three of you were wearing. You felt a heat creep along your neck when you felt wandering eyes pass towards your direction while you followed behind the brothers. And the fact that Dean was chowing down on anything that he saw wasn’t helping, either.   
  
“Silent auctions, estate sales—it’s like a garage sale for W.A.S.P.’s, if you ask me.” Dean remarked, grabbing another pastry off the table as he passed by. You threw him a dirty glare at that comment, you cleared your throat to get his attention.   
  
“I’m one of them, dofus.” You muttered. You crossed your arms over your chest when you watched his face turn into an amused look while Sam looked at you with a bit of surprise at what you had admitted. You knew this was the part where you had to explain yourself. Something that you always dreaded. “My mom was a huge art collector. She lived for this kind of stuff.”   
  
“So,” Dean’s lips stretched into a smirk. “Y/N’s been holding out on us.”   
  
“Oh, shut up.” You said, rolling your eyes, knowing well enough of what he was hinting at.   
  
Okay, you had to admit it. You had a hefty amount of money set away after your parents passed away, mostly from life insurance and some college funds from when you were younger that was set up after your birth. But you never touched it. Most of it went towards bills and other things that you needed for daily living. Your mother made sure you were set in case of something were to happen to her, it was almost like she was expecting to have a short lifespan. But she was the type to thinking of every worst possible case scenario.   
  
“Can I help you, gentlemen?” You turned around to see an older man standing in front of you, he watches as Dean pops the small pastry into his his mouth. You politely smile, but it falters when you realize what comes rolling out of the oldest Winchester’s mouth.   
  
“I’d like some champagne, please.” Dean said between bites.   
  
“He’s not a waiter.” You state. Dean overlooks the man for a few moments before giving him an expression as if he didn’t know any better from his expensive suit compared towards the traditional ones that the help wears. You shake you head, as if you were embarrassed enough.   
  
“I’m Sam Conners.” The youngest brother tries to get things back to normal, even putting out his hands to shake with the man, but he simply looks down at Sam’s hand for a few moments before glancing back up. Sam retracts back his arm before pointing at the both of you. “This is my brother, Dean. And my partner, Y/N. We are art dealers with Connors Limited.”   
  
“You’re art dealers?” The man asked, an amused smile spreading across his face.   
  
“That’s right.” You said. You stretched a fake grin at the man, the same kind that you had used for all of the rich snobs like him. But it seemed that he could see right through it.   
  
“I’m Daniel Blake, this is my auction house. Now, gentlemen, this is a private showing, and I don’t remember seeing you on the guest list.” Daniel stated, you opened your mouth to make up some lie, but Dean was quick to keep this trainwreck going.   
  
“We’re there, Chuckles. You just need to take another look.” Dean said. You glared at the man while Sam was beginning to look like a deer in headlights at his brother’s attitude. But he didn’t seem to be paying attention, his eyes spotting two flutes of champagne pass by. “Oh, finally.” He grabbed both of them while the waiter passed by, you reluctantly grabbed the glass when he handed it to you. Dean decided to take a big sniff of it before taking a sip. “Cheers.”   
  
You turned around and followed behind the brothers, taking a rather large sip from the glass, knowing that you needed something to keep you at ease before you went snapping at Dean for the stunt that he just pulled. But knowing him, he would pull a remark which would get you riled up. Better to keep yourself quiet. You trailed behind to see that you made in the section where all the Telescas belongings were put. Most of it was just furniture that looked to be antique, something that was well worth a lot of money, but something in particular caught your eye.   
  
A painting of a family hung just a few feet from where you were standing. You had to admit the detail was quite exquisite, whoever did this was good with detail. But the dead facial expression from the people didn’t leave a good feeling in the pit of your stomach, they all looked miserable. It was almost the kind of old painting that you swore followed you wherever you went in the room, never taking their eyes off their owners. As if they were waiting for you to forget they were there.   
  
“A fine example of an American primitive, wouldn’t you say?” A female voice asked from the distance. You looked over your shoulder, but cranked your head up to see a young woman walking down the spiral staircase, wearing a rather expensive looking black dress as her heels clicked against the marble floors.   
  
You glanced over to see that Sam was staring at her as if she was a piece of art, you smiled at lightly smacked him on his arm to draw him out of his trance. But he wouldn’t say anything. “We were just speaking about this. He says it’s more a Grant Wood than Grandma Moses…” You said, you trailed over at him for him to continue.   
  
“But you knew that.” He said, eyeing her with a small smile. “You just wanted to see if we did.”   
  
“Guity. And clumsy. I apologize.” She said, lightly shrugging her shoulders. You watched as Sam’s grin grew, you stepped a bit back so the both of them could continue. “I’m Sarah Blake.”   
  
“I’m Sam.” The youngest Winchester greeted. You smiled when Sam pointed at you. “This is my friend, Y/N. And this is my brother…Dean.” You turned your head to see that the other brother was chowing down, still. You couldn’t believe with the way that he was behaving in a place like this.   
  
“Dean.” Sarah repeated his name. She glanced down at the appetizers that laid in his palm. “Can we get you some more mini quiche? ”   
  
“Mnh-mnh, I’m good. Thanks.” Dean said between mouthfuls. Sarah smiled and nodded her head before glancing back at his brother to continue their conversation.   
  
“So, can I help you with something?” She curiously asked Sam.   
  
“Yeah, actually.” Sam looked over at the furniture that he had his back turned toward before glancing back at the woman. “What can you tell us about the Telesca estate?”   
  
“The whole thing’s pretty grisly if you ask me, selling their things so soon. But Dad’s right about one thing—sensationalism brings out the crowds. Even the rich ones.” Sarah commented. You glanced over at the wandering bodies, you would drink to that truth, so you took another sip of your champagne.   
  
Sam smiled and nodded his head at her subtle joke. You couldn’t help yourself but look at the both of them with interest. They would make a cute pair…“Is it possible to see the provenances?” Sam asked Sarah, breaking you from your thoughts.   
  
Before Sarah could answer, someone else spoke up for her. “I’m afraid that there isn’t a chance of that.” You slightly frowned when you saw Daniel approaching all of you, he stood by his daughter’s side while he overlooked the three of you again with an annoyed glare that you were still here   
  
“Why not?” You questioned.   
  
“You’re not on the guest list.” He quickly answered you. “And I think it’s time to leave.”   
  
“Well, we don’t have to be told twice.” Dean mocked the man.   
  
“Apparently, you do.” Daniel remarked.   
  
“Okay, it’s alright. We don’t want any trouble. We’ll go.” Sam tried to keep the tension from rising.   
  
While you brushed past the pat, you caught the stares that Sam and Sarah were giving one another, as if they didn’t want their time to end so soon. You decided that you could be part researcher and part matchmaker for the brothers. Someone needed to be having fun besides the oldest Winchester. And it was time Sam went on a date. It’s time for him to stop mourning.   
  
\+ + +   
  
After being booted out of the auction, you and the brothers found a motel to crash at for the remainder of your stay. You grabbed your own duffel bag and followed behind, you decided not to settle into your own room just yet. It was the dreaded laundry day. Since you were helping the brothers, an unfortunate task came into place after you discovered the boys were wearing dirty clothes that were a few days old. So the first week of each month whenever you were free, you took all of your laundry and did it up for them. Luckily the motel had a few that seemed to be empty, so you were going to snag all the smelly clothes and spend the rest of the day washing.   
  
“Grant Wood, Grandma Moses—what?” Dean asked the two of you. He seemed to be taken back by yours and Sam’s knowledge for the arts. You shrugged your shoulders.   
  
“I told you before, I learned most of it from auctions.” You said.   
  
“Art History course. It’s good for meeting girls.” Sam remarked, you knew that comment was for his brother’s behavior from last night. You chuckled to yourself while the motel door opened.   
  
“It’s like I don’t know even know you two.” Dean mumbled, pushing on the door before stepping inside. You rolled your eyes and followed behind, but you caught yourself tripping slightly when you missed the fact that he decided to stop walking. When you caught yourself staring at the decor of the room, you knew why.   
  
Everything looked like you had stepped back into time right into the seventies; the room had a color pattern of silver and dark hues of blue. You noticed that there was a bar and a few chairs that looked rather comfy. This place sure was step up from the other places that you had been to before, but boy, it was a trip to see the interior. Either the one really loved disco or someone was stuck in a time period that was well over.   
  
“Huh.” The brothers mumbled in sync, heading towards the bed that were hidden behind a wall of beaded chains with a small opening. You followed behind before dropping yourself into one of the chairs, your duffel bag resting at your feet.   
  
“And what was the providence?” Dean asked, pronouncing the name wrong.   
  
“Provence.” You called out, correcting him.   
  
“It’s a certificate of origin, like a biography, you know?” Sam explained to his brother. “We can use them to track the history of the pieces, see if anything’s got a freaky past.”   
  
“We’re not getting anything out of Chuckles,” Dean said, you hated when he used that nickname. Sam mumbled a yeah while unpacking his belongings. You and Dean looked over at one another, you both knew what he was hinting at. You got up from your seat and headed over before plopping yourself on Sam’s bed. “But, uh, Sarah…”   
  
“Maybe you can get her to write it on a napkin.” Sam mumbled, glancing up at his brother.   
  
“Not me.” Dean laughed out.   
  
“Oh, no, no, no, no.” Sam realized what the two of you were getting at. “Pickups are your thing, Dean.”   
  
“It wasn’t his butt she was checking out.” You noted, playfully smirking at the man.   
  
“In other words,” Sam said. “You guys want me to use her to get information.”   
  
“Your words, not mine…” You trailed off, knowing that you had other ideas.   
  
“Sometimes you gotta take one for the team.” Dean said. You watched as he pulled out his cell phone and handed it over towards his brother. “Call Sarah.” And not even a heartbeat later, you heard the familiar sounds of the buttons being pressed before he was saying hello to the girl.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Between prepping Sam for the date, making sure that everything was in the right place, and dragging three heavy bags towards the laundromat, you were nothing more than exhausted at the end of the day. But the clothes were finally clean and hopefully Sam was having a good time with Sarah. At least one of you could enjoy the time away from research that didn’t require a computer. As much as he denied wanting to do this, you knew he was looking forward to spending more time with this girl.   
  
A sigh of annoyance escaped your lips when you finally dropped the third bag towards the pavement that was just across from the boys’ motel room. You didn’t want to take the chance of having some pervert decide to have a little fun going through your own belongings. So you made a quick stop before you found yourself knocking on the door, thinking that you weren’t going to have an answer, but you were happy to see Dean answering the door.   
  
“Hey, laundry’s done.” You said. You wiped away the sweat from your brow that you didn’t realize that it  was collecting there as you bent down to grab the strap of his duffel bag. Just as you were going to go at it again, Dean beat you to it, grabbing his and his brother’s.   
  
“Thanks, again.” Dean said, letting the strap of his bag rest on his shoulder while Sam’s bag rested against his side. You nodded your head, getting ready to head back towards your motel room before, but you stopped when you heard him calling out your name. “Since Sam’s out for the night, you wanna crash here for a while?”   
  
“Aw, do you miss your brother already?” You asked, smirking to yourself when you watched his face stretched into an annoyed one at your way of joking with him. “Just let me shower quickly and we’ll figure something out for dinner.”   
  
“Nah, I’ll get it. You’ve done enough.” Dean said, shrugging off your attempts at being helpful again. “I had something in mind. Go get yourself settled. I’ll handle this one.”   
  
You look at him for a few moments, wondering what had gotten into him, knowing that he likes to spend his free time at the bar scene to try and hook up with eligible hook ups. You don’t remember the last time since the both of you spent a night together without Sam that wasn’t related towards a hunt you were helping them with. Part of you would be lying if you weren’t a bit excited for a night of relaxation while you knew that the other brother was out with someone new for a change. You smiled, nodding your head. And with that, you head back towards your motel room to get rid of the sweat from a hard day’s work.     
  
\+ + +   
  
The sun finally set for the night when you stepped outside after showering and changing into a large t-shirt and pajama shorts. You headed towards the motel room again, you knocked on the door and waited a few moments before it opened to reveal Dean. Stepping inside the room, you couldn’t help yourself but sniff the air, a mixture of soap and cologne filled the room with faint whiffs of something that you made it to be cheese? You couldn’t spot any food around. But your stomach grumbled softly when you thought about it, you pressed your palm against in embarrassment.   
  
“So, what’s for dinner?” You curiously asked. Heading over towards his bed, you laid down, ignoring the pile of clothes that he had at the edge of it. You watched as he walked towards the bar and bent down to get something, your brows furrowed at his choice. But you couldn’t help yourself but smile at the odd combination. “Pizza and champagne? My, I wonder what you do for girls that you like.”   
  
“I know it’s not what you’re accustomed to. But it will just have to do.” Dean remarks, you roll your eyes at what he was hinting at again. You knew it was a bad idea to admit that. Now you were never going to hear the end of it. “Now get your ass over here and eat. Unless you’re offering to take us to fancy little restaurant.”   
  
You push yourself off the bed and head over towards the bar, you found two champagne glasses for the both of you to use. You place them down before busying yourself with opening up the pizza box and grabbing a slice, you notice that half of it is your favorite toppings. “You know, I would, but I don’t really wanna waste the rest of my life teaching you proper manners.”   
  
“Smart ass.” Dean mumbles to himself, breaking off the seal of the bottle.   
  
You can’t help yourself but chuckle before taking a bite of the food. You watch as he fumbles around with trying to open up the top before the Pop! sound echos through the room and a rush of bubbles. Dean pours the both of you a glass before handing one to you. You take a sip of the drink, you are a bit surprised, it’s quite good, even better than the one than you had at the auction. You catch the Winchester’s smirk when he sees your facial expression.   
  
“There’s one thing I learned from my lifestyle. The cheaper, the better.”   
  
“Whatever you say.” You mumble, trying your hardest not to laugh. You stop yourself by taking a bite of your pizza and taking your time chewing. Anything to keep him from thinking that you thought his behavior today was funny, even though you admit it was quite amusing from time to time, but he didn’t need to know, he would just continue with it.   
  
“Whatever, princess.” Dean says, reaching for a slice of pizza. You roll your eyes at the nickname he decided to use on you from time to time, he knows you hate it. So you casually slip in one that should get him ticked off just enough to annoy him.   
  
“Can I get some more champagne, Chuckles?” You asked with a straight face, you put out your nearly empty glass for him to pour you more. His face is nothing but priceless, but he does what you ask him to do. Maybe it’s the cheap liquor that’s making you feel a bit more at ease, you put your glass into the air as if you were going to make a toast, but you decide to do something else in the spirit of the night. “Cheers.”   
  
“To what?” Dean asked between chews.   
  
You shrug your shoulders, but something sparks in your mind. “To change for the good. To happiness that all of us deserve. Enjoy the moment, smart ass.”   
  
You think he’s just going to brush it off with some comment about you being too sentimental for him. But you watch as he grabs his drink and clinks the glass together before pressing it towards his parted lips.   
  
“Cheers, princess.”

\+ + +

“So, she just hands you the provinces over to you?” Dean asked his brother, running his knife down the piece of whatever it was, to sharpen the blade. While he grilled Sam about last night’s dinner, you kept yourself busy by helping look over the papers, pretending to be invested in the documents. All though, you couldn’t keep yourself from tuning in to see if there was any details that he was going to spill, but so far, he was keeping it all to himself with a simple outlook of how the night went.

  
“Provenances.” You corrected him again, shifting the papers around while you glanced up once more. You weren’t finding anything that would lead towards a reason for these murders, so you placed the documents on the coffee table, admitting a silent defeat.   
  
“Provenances?” Dean repeated the word again, you nodded your head at the correct pronunciation, only after correcting him a handful of times tonight, he finally got it.   
  
“Yeah. We went back to her place, I got a copy of the papers.” Sam explained to the both of you, shrugging his shoulders as if there was nothing more to tell. But you tilted your head to the side, knowing there had to be more to this story than what he was leading on. You smirked at him.   
  
“And?”   
  
“And nothing. That’s it. I left.” Sam tried to leave the conversation at that. He shifted his attention back towards the papers that must have begun to look more interesting than the innocent talk that was slowly turning into an interrogation. Neither you or Dean were finished with the man just yet, you had more questions that needed answers.   
  
“You didn’t have to con her or do any favors?” Dean continued to question his little brother, even raising up an eyebrow to get his point across a bit more clearer. Sam just rolled his eyes, letting a sharp sigh for an added effect to show the both of you of how annoyed he was becoming from all of this harassment.   
  
“Would you get your mind out of the gutter, please?” Sam pleaded. You and Dean couldn’t help yourselfs but chuckle before pretending to focus your attention back on the case. But  you couldn’t help yourself to just slip a little suggestion that would make him happy. You knew he was thinking it, of course, he would never say it out loud.   
  
“You know, when this thing’s done,” You spoke up again, pretending to play with a loose piece of string at the end of your shirt before you looked up at him again. “We could stick around for a bit.”   
  
“Why?” Sam asked, not getting what you were hinting at. You rolled your eyes at his horrible attempt at trying to be ignorant of this situation he was finding himself in.   
  
“So you could take her out again.” You said, grabbing the papers from the table again, you shifted them around so they were in a neater pile. “It’s obvious you’re into her. Even I can see that.”   
  
“Hey, all right. I got something here.” Sam was quick to change the subject back towards the case. You leaned in closer to see what he found, Dean shut the wooden box with one swing before he pushed himself off the bed and walked over towards the both of you to see what his brother found.   
  
Sam handed the papers towards your awaiting hand, he dropped his arm towards the rest, giving you a moment to read everything over. While you skimmed the documents, you felt Dean’s presence looming over you to read the paper over. “‘Portrait of Isaiah Merchant’s family, painted 1910.” You read aloud. You looked up at Sam, not sure what he was getting at with this information.   
  
“Now compare the names of the owners with Dad’s journal.” Sam said, tapping his finger towards the open book that was sitting on the coffee table. You leaned over and looked at the names before glancing back at the documents. It didn’t take you very long to catch on the pattern that he had found first.   
  
“'First purchased in 1912 to Peter Sims.’” You glanced up when Sam pointed towards the first paragraph in the journal, you quickly continued reading, but your brows furrowed at the connection you were beginning to make. “'Peter Sims murdered, 1912.’” You flipped to the next page to see the next owner, and the next owner. “Same thing in 1945. Oh, and in 1970.” You pointed out, reading through the documents. When the connection finally began to make sense, you threw the papers to the table.   
  
“Then stored, until it was donated to a charity auction last month,” Sam said, you looked over at him when you remembered who the last owners were. They ended up dead with their throats slashed, just like the other owners of this haunted piece of art. “Where the Telescas bought it.”   
  
“So, what do you think? Is it haunted or cursed?” You asked the brothers.   
  
“Either way, it’s toast.” Dean answered.   
  
You thought about what he said for a few moment, the painting was locked away in the auction house, and there was no way in hell he was suggesting that all of you were going to burn the painting in the middle of the day. It only took you a minute before you started shaking your head, realizing what he was suggesting all of you to do. You gave him an annoyed glare when you watched as his lips stretched into a smirk.   
  
\+ + +   
  
A gasp escaped your lips when you felt your stomach press against the metal fence, all the air that was in your lungs was pushed out when you gripped the bars tighter. You glanced down at the ground and felt your heart was beginning to beat faster from the height that you managed to get yourself to jump and climb. While the brothers wandered off to get this plan into motion, you were left to fend for yourself. You still weren’t sure how you managed to get yourself up this high, but they made it look so easy, so you thought you could do this one without any assistance.   
  
You looked over your shoulder to see if there was anyone coming, but the sight was clear for you to continue. You kicked a leg over the top of the fence before you did the other. Letting your body dangle for a moment, you finally let go and dropped your body towards the pavement, waiting for the pain to hit your behind while you toppled backwards. When you felt pressure hit the bottom of your feet, you opened your eyes to see that you were standing upwards, you let out a sigh of relief. Adjusting your black gloves, you took one more sweep over the parking lot to see if there was anyone here to investigate the noise, but you were still alone.   
  
You caught up with the brothers to see that that the youngest was tackling the beeping alarm system was the other one was kneeled down on the ground, waiting for the cue to start picking the lock. With a pull of of a wire, you watched as the alarm system switched off and the noise became nothing but silence again. Sam turned his attention towards his brother, he nodded his head. “Go ahead.” He whispered. Dean began to twist and turn the knife and pick he had wedged in the lock, but it was only a matter of seconds until you saw the door creak open.   
  
Shoving your hand inside your pocket, you pulled out your flashlight and turned it on, you stepped inside the building with the sounds of two other footsteps following your in your lead. As you tried to navigate your way through the antiques and expensive pieces of part, you tried to see through the little light that you had to see where the painting was stored. The quicker you found this painting and faster it burned, the less guilt you would feel about breaking into this place. Just as you were growing impatient, you caught Dean’s flashlight lingering on something on the second story. You turned your head to see that he had found the precious piece of art.   
  
All of you wasted no time in running to the stairs, you trailed behind, heading up the spiral staircase, knowing that there wasn’t much time before the alarm company was going to figure out that there was something going on. Dean was the first one to approach the painting, he pulled out his switchblade, letting the knife pop out for some added effect. You and Sam held the edges of the gold frame while the other brother began to cut the picture out. Just a few cuts later, you had the painting rolled up in your hands, all of you wasted no time in going towards your next part of the plan.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Standing in the middle of an empty field, the painting laid on the dirt ground with all of you staring down at it. You had previously poured the mixture of gasoline and salt before standing back to watch it go up in flames. Sam stood next to you, keeping himself busy with pointing a flashlight towards the artwork. Dean had a match in his hand, of course before getting the job done, he had to interject the moment with a comment that would only have seemed appropriate coming from him. Sometimes you wondered why you were still shocked at half the things he said.   
  
“Ugly-ass thing.” He mumbled, running the tip of the match over the edge of the box. “If you ask me, we’re doing the art world a favor.”   
  
You snorted at his behavior, you watched as he threw the match towards the painting, the edges of the artwork slowly began to catch fire until all of it went up in flames. “Oh, please. Like you know anything about the arts.” You said, crossing your arms over your chest. “You didn’t even know what '‘The Starry Night’ was. You don’t know squat.” Dodging his looks and Sam’s soft chuckle, you turned your attention towards the burning picture that was becoming nothing more than ashes and dirt that were beginning to go up towards the nighttime sky.   
  
\+ + +   
  
All of you arrived back at the motel shortly after morning; you lingered around the boys’ room to find your missing shoe that you must have left the previous night before. You had gotten yourself a bit more tipsier than you wanted, leaving the room with only one shoes hanging off your finger before you crashed for the night. While you leaned over the bar to check underneath it, the sound of the bathroom door being ripped open and Dean’s panicked voice brought you back into a straightened position. You looked over to see what had gotten him so distraught.   
  
“We’ve got a problem. I can’t find my wallet.” Dean said, racing over towards his bed to see where he could have placed it. You kept to your search, thinking that it had to be in here somewhere, the place was a bit of a mess, after all.   
  
“How’s that our problem?” Sam asked, folding his shirt while watching as his brother went towards his jacket to see if he placed it there.   
  
“‘Because I think I dropped it in the warehouse last night.” Dean admitted. You let out an annoyed sigh escape through your nose while you realized what was at stake.   
  
“You’re kidding, right? Please tell me you’re kidding.” You hissed at the man.   
  
“I mean, it’s got my prints, my I.D—well, my fake I.D.,” Dean corrected himself, shrugging on his coat. “Anyway, but we got to get it before someone else find it, come on.”   
  
You rolled your eyes until they were in the back of your head at the turn of events. Sam just threw his shirt towards the bed, fuming in anger while he followed behind his brother, hoping that all of you were quick to find it before someone else did and put the pieces together of what happened last night.   
  
\+ + +   
  
The familiar warehouse came into view when Dean pulled up next to an expensive looking silver porsche, you knew that he parked a little close, so you should be careful and open up your door slowly. But you weren’t in the mood; you were ready to take your chances at going at it with some rich snob and Dean for scratching their precious cars. You mind kept thinking of worse case scenarios that were making you nervous, and when you got like this, you had a tendency of being bitter and quick to snap at people over the smallest things.   
  
When you stepped inside the building, all of you wasted no time in taking the chance and trying to retrace your steps before just going crazy and searching over everything in sight. You searched through fake potted plants and an ugly looking vase before you glanced up at the man, knowing that there was no way it was here. “How do you lose your wallet, Dean?” Sam questioned, anger rising in his voice while he watched as his brother shrugged his shoulders before sneaking off towards the other side of the room.   
  
“Hey, guys!”   
  
You stopped in your actions when you heard a very familiar voice ring inside your ears. Looking over your shoulder, you smiled when you saw that it was Sarah, she was wearing a rather happy look when she noticed that Sam was back, you glanced over at Dean who was in the corner now. A small smile fell over your lips when he winked at you, getting you into the plan that he had set up for his brother. You quietly headed over towards Dean, shaking your head while you felt your lips stretch into a smirk. You watched the scene unfold between the two .   
  
“Sarah. Hey.” Sam said, a smile of his own spread across his lips when he realized it was Sarah. He put down something that looked like a decorative box before straightening out his posture for the woman.   
  
“What are you doing here?” She curiously asked.   
  
“Oh…” Sam tried to make up an excuse, looking at the both of you for a story, you innocently shrugged your shoulders. “We’re—We’re leaving town, and you know, we came to say goodbye.” You elbowed Dean in the side when you realized where this was turning out in the opposite direction that neither of you wanted to see.   
  
“What are you talking about, Sam?” You asked. You headed up towards the other brother with a chuckle escaping your lips, you glanced over at Sarah. You watched as her smile grew at the news. “We’re sticking around for at least another day or two.”   
  
“Oh, Sam, by the way,” Dean followed in your plan. He pulled out his wallet from his jacket pocket and pulled out some money. “I wanted to give you that twenty bucks I owe you.” He chuckled to himself while looming over at Sarah again. “I always forget.” With the bill hanging between his fingers, Sam had a forced smile of his own, knowing what you two were trying to pull. “There you go.” The youngest brother reached up and snatched the money away.   
  
“We’ll leave you two crazy kids alone.” You said, looking at the two. “We have to go do…something…somewhere.” You caught yourself stuttering out an excuse and before you could continue, you felt the tug of Dean yanking you ever so gently towards the other side of the room, you smiled again before giving them the privacy they deserved.   
  
When the both of you were far away enough from Sam and Sarah, you leaned yourself against a cherry oak dresser. You watched as the two were talking away, hopefully about making plans for another date, knowing that Sam had a good time with the girl. The smile on his face and the glow that he had while he talked to her was something that he couldn’t hide from anyone. Not even from himself. You turned your head to see that Dean was observing his work unfold. When you realized that his phony lie of dragging all of you here was for this, you shoot your head, still not sure how you didn’t catch on faster.   
  
“Sneaky bastard. ”   
  
“Don’t think you’re the only one who can play matchmaker.”   
  
He had got you there; you knew that he wanted what was best for his little brother, even though Sam sometimes can be stubborn about admitting his feelings, unlike the other, all of this was in good spirits to push the man towards some happiness that he deserves. Just as you opened your mouth to say something again, another voice caught you off guard.   
  
“Oh, my god!”   
  
You quickly turned your head to see that Sam was staring at something with horror. You furrowed your eyebrows to see what he was fussing about, but what you saw just moments later made you realize what he was panicking about. The painting that you watch burn to nothing but ashes was back—as if nothing happened, and was being carried off by a man before being propped against a wall. You pushed yourself off the dresser and found yourself heading over towards the two, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.   
  
“The-The painting, looks so good.” Sam stuttered out, trying to cover himself from the outburst that he just had. You gave him a confused look, Sarah glanced over at the painting, not sure what he was thinking about. An idea sparked inside you.   
  
“God, this boy, doesn’t know his art.” You forced a fake smile, patting him on the chest. “I mean, if you can call that monstrosity good, then, yeah, I guess. But you know, a girl like you knows a good piece of work when she sees one.” Letting a playful wink in her direction, you nudged Sam lightly in the stomach to make your point across a bit better.   
  
“Sarah, what do you know about that painting?” Sam asked, pretending to be interested.   
  
“Not much. Just that it creeps me out. We sold it to the Telescas at a charity auction the night they were murdered.” She explained. You had to admit that was kind of grizzly; do some good deed and end up all in the same night.   
  
“And now you’re just gonna sell it again?” Sam questioned.   
  
“As much as my dad wants to, no. I won’t let him.” She answered, shaking her head. “I think it’d  be in bad taste.”   
  
“Good. Yeah. You know what? Don’t. Don’t.” Sam rambled on, watching as the painting was picked up again before looking back at the woman. “Make sure you don’t, okay?”   
  
“Why?” Sarah asked, a small smile spreading across her lips while she joked, “Don’t tell me you’re interested in that.”   
  
“No, God, no. Not in buying it, no.” Sam muttered, shaking his head before returning his gaze back to her. Ever so slowly, he started to walk away. “We have to go. I got to take care of something. But um, I will call you back. I will call you later. I’ll see you later.”   
  
“Wait, so you’re not leaving tonight?” Sarah asked. You gave the man a confused look, wondering what he had said to her. But you were glad that everything was working out the way it should be.   
  
“No, I guess not. I’ll see you.” Sam said, a smile spreading across his face when he realized it wouldn’t be the last time to see her.   
  
“You two are so cute.” You muttered to yourself, walking up towards the man before you took a hold of his sleeve, dragging him out of the warehouse. When the both of you were far enough away, you broke the silence that fell over while you headed towards the Impala. “You told her we were leaving? And I thought things were going well!”   
  
Sam shrugged his shoulders, not sure how to answer from your tone of voice that must have caught him off guard. You rolled your eyes, opening up the back seat door before sliding yourself inside. Sam got in the passenger side and wasted in explains what the both of you had saw back inside.   
  
“I don’t understand, Dean.” Sam said. “We burned the damn thing.”   
  
“Yeah, thank you, Captain Obvious.” Dean remarked at his brother. “We just need to figure out another way to get rid of it.” There was a second pause before he looked at the both of you. “Any ideas?”   
  
You rolled your eyes before thinking for a few moments. “Okay, all right.” You began, beginning to remember some information that you learned about these kinds of haunted paintings. “Well, um, in almost all the lore about haunted painting, it’s always the painting’s subject that haunts them.”   
  
“Yeah? All right.” Dean said. “So we need to figure out everything there is to know about that creepy-ass family in that creepy-ass painting. What were their names again?”   
  
\+ + +   
  
“The Isaiah Merchant family, right?” The older man asked, slamming down another heavy book against the library’s table, the force caused the years of dust slowly drift around in the air. You nodded your head, trying to keep yourself from having fit from the amount of debris that was heading your way.   
  
“Yeah, that’s right.” Sam answered. He stood next to you with his hands inside his jacket pocket. You watched from the corner of your eye as Dean headed back towards the three of you with another paperback book in his hands, he flipped through it while taking his time to catch up on what was going on.   
  
“I dug up every scrap of local history I could find.” The librarian said, opening up the large leather bound book before looking up at all of you. “So, uh, you kids crime buffs?”   
  
“Kind of.” Dean said, sitting himself at the edge of the table, he looked at you and his brother before back at the man. “Why do you ask?”   
  
“Well…” You watched as the man lifted up a piece of paper that was beginning to go yellow from the years of aging, it took you a few moments to realize it was a newspaper, and considering the headlines, it was from the 1900s. His finger tapped against the small article on the right, almost unnoticeable from the Titanic headline that previously caught your attention. You leaned in closer to see what it read: Father slaughters family, kills self.   
  
“Yes. Yeah, that sounds about right.” Dean said, wagging a finger at the newspaper before dropping it back down towards the table.   
  
“The whole family was killed?” You couldn’t help yourself but ask the man.   
  
“It seems this Isaiah, he slits his kids’ throats, then his wife, than himself.” The man explained to all of you. “Now, he was a barber by trade, used a straight edge razor.”   
  
“Why’d he do it?” Sam asked.   
  
“Well, let’s look.” The librarian skimmed the article before he began reading aloud. “Uh, ‘People who knew him described Isaiah as having a stern and harsh temperament, and controlled his family with an iron fist.’ Wife, two sons, adopted daughter—yeah, yeah. There were whispers that the wife was gonna take the kids and leave, which, of course, in that day and age…so instead, the old man Isaiah, well, he gave them all a shave.” You winced slightly when he made a fake gesture towards his throat being slit. “Kkkch!”   
  
Dean chuckled along with the man, but you and Sam just gave him an annoyed look, all thought he ignored the both of you, paying his attention back to the librarian. “Does it say what happened to the bodies?”   
  
“They were all cremated.” He said. You rolled your eyes, of course they were.   
  
“Anything else?” Sam asked     
  
“Yeah. Actually, I found a picture of the family. It’s right here somewhere.” The man went towards another book, he opened it up and placed the mark down before turning it around for the three of you to see. “Right. Here it is.” You took notice that it was the same creepy painting that you had saw before, the same dead eyes were staring at you. You glanced over at the boys, you took notice that Sam seemed to be rather interested it now than he was before.   
  
“Hey, could we get a copy of this, please?” Sam asked the man. The librarian nodded his head, he slammed the book shut before heading over towards the copier to make off a print for all of you. Glancing over at Sam again, you wondered what he had found.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“I’m telling you, man, I’m sure of it.” Sam said to his brother, pushing the copy of the painting towards his brother. Both of them sat at the small table while you leaned over, listening towards what he had to say about the small details he noticed about the painting. “The painting at the auction house, the dad is looking down. The painting here, Dad’s looking out. The painting has changed, Dean.”   
  
“So you think that Daddy Dearest is trapped in the painting, and he’s hanging out Columbian neckties like he did with his family?” Dean questioned, his sarcasm showing through.   
  
“Well, yeah, it seems like it.” Sam muttered, shrugging his shoulders before bring up another point. “But if his bones are already dusted, then how are we gonna stop him?”   
  
“Well, if Isaiah’s positioned changed, then maybe some other things the painting has changed, as well. It could give us some clues.” Dean said. He dropped the paper back towards the table after taking a moment to observe it once again.   
  
“Like a ‘Da Vinci Code’ deal?” You asked him.   
  
“I don’t know. I’m still waiting for the movie on that one.” He said, obviously not getting your book reference. He got up from his seat and headed over towards his bed. “Anyway, we got to get back in and see that painting…” His voice trailed off while he threw himself against the mattress before crossing his ankles together.   
  
You were quick to his seat at the table and continue with his thought. “Which is a good thing, because you can get more time to crush on your girlfriend.” You couldn’t help yourself but tease him, but it seemed that Sam wasn’t liking your sense of humor.   
  
“Dude…enough already.” Sam mumbled, throwing his arm up in the arm.     
  
“What?” Dean innocently asked.   
  
“‘What’? Ever since we got here, the both of you have have been trying to pimp me out to Sarah. Just back off, alright?” Sam snapped, you knew he was irritated, but you couldn’t help yourself but interject one more time.   
  
“Well, you like her, don’t you?” You questioned him, Sam threw his arms up in the air, you rolled your eyes. “Alright, you like her. She likes you.”   
  
“You’re both consenting adults.” Dean piped in, you threw him a look.     
  
“What’s the point, guys?” Sam questioned. “We just leave. We always leave.”   
  
“Well, I’m not talking about marriage, Sam.”   
  
“I don’t get it.” Sam said. “What do you care if I hook up?”   
  
“Maybe you wouldn’t be so cranky all the time.” You mumbled, giving him a smirk to lighten up the mood. Sam just scoffed at your remark, turning his gaze towards the other side of the room.   
  
Dean shifted around so he was in a sitting position before he continued talking again, burning up a point that you didn’t even think about. “Seriously, Sam, this isn’t just about hooking up, okay? I think this Sarah girl could be good for you.” Dean suggested. Sam rested his head on his palm, he shook his head at what his brother was saying.  "And I don’t mean any disrespect, but I'm—I’m sure this is about Jessica, right?“   
  
That seemed to have caught Sam’s attention, ever so slowly, he turned his head so now he was facing his brother. "No, I don’t know what it's like to lose somebody like that…but…I would think that she would want you to be happy.” Dean said. “God forbid, have fun once in awhile. Wouldn’t she?”   
  
You watched as the ends of Sam’s lips twitched into a small smile at the thought of her.  "Yeah, I know she would.“ He admitted, dropping his arm down towards the table. He was silent for a few moments, the truth that he tried to deny was slowly bubbling towards the surface. A sigh escaped him before he continued speaking. “Yeah, you’re right. Part of this is about Jessica. But not the main part.”     
  
“What’s it about?” You asked him. He shifted his gaze from you towards the table, you knew that he didn’t want to speak about it now, and you weren’t going to push him to his breaking point.   
  
“Yeah, all right.” Dean mumbled, shifting himself back in the bed before he was lying down in bed again with his arms crossed over his chest. “Well, we still got to see that painting, which means you still got to Sarah, so…”   
  
Sam nodded his head, reaching for his phone before he dialed her number, he pressed it towards his ear and waited for her to pick up. A few seconds later, he spoke up. "Sarah, hey. Its Sam. Hey, hi.” He said to her. “Good. Good. Yeah. What about you?”   
  
“Smooth.” Dean mumbled, Sam ignored him.   
  
“Yeah, good. Good, really good. So, uh—so listen.” Sam got the conversation towards the a painting. “Me and my brother were thinking that maybe we’d like to come back in and look at that painting again. I think maybe we are interested in buying it.” There was a pause before Sam jumped out of his seat, you and Dean were quick to take notice of his sudden change of mood. “Wait, what? Who’d you sell it to? Sarah, I need an address right now.”

  
\+ + +

Panicking wouldn’t have been the proper term to describe what you were feeling at the moment; it was a massive understatement. Your heart beat rang inside your ears, barely even recognizing the sounds of tires squealing against the driveway blacktop to notify that all of you were here. The sharp stop of the car sent you tumbling out of your rushing thoughts. No matter how many times you’ve helped on hunts, the idea of someone’s life in danger without their knowledge would always make your blood run cold, that’s when the doubt crept in and you began thinking of the worst possible scenario while you tried to rush to get there in time before it would come true.  


  
You nearly ripped open the backseat door when the Impala stopped, and before the motor shut off, Sam jumped out of the car, running forward towards the front door. You tried to keep up with either of them, but their body ratio compared to yours was longer, not sure what you were expecting. As you rushed as quick as you could, you noticed that Sarah had parked her car in front of yours, she rushed out and walked up towards Sam, becoming just as nervous while the mood shifted towards a tension, she began questioning the man while he headed up the front porch steps towards the house.   
  
“Sam, what’s happening?” Sarah questioned, following behind the man.   
  
“I told you shouldn’t have come.” Sam scolded her. He pushed her slightly out of the way so he was now running up the porch steps with his brother. The both of them began pounding on the front door as hard as they could, even trying to open it, but with a failed attempt after realizing that it was locked.   
  
“Hello, anybody home?!” Dean shouted at the top of his lungs, but there was no reply from the other side of the door. He pounded his fist against in frustration.   
  
“You said Evelyn might be in danger. What kind of danger?” Sarah spoke up, still questioning all of you. But you ignored her, knowing there was another time to explain what was happening, there were more important matters to be taken care of first.   
  
“I can’t knock this sucker down. I got to pick it.” Dean said. He shoved his hands inside his pockets and pulled out the small tools that were needed to get all of you inside the house. Sam headed towards a closed window that was just across the porch to see if he could somehow budge or loosen one of the iron bars that were spread across the large windows.   
  
“What are you guys, burglars?” Sarah asked, walking over towards Sam again.   
  
“I wish it was that simple.” You muttered underneath your breath.   
  
“Look, you really should wait in the car.” Sam dodged her question, he followed forward when Dean managed to get the lock undone with you trailing behind. What Sarah said next didn’t surprise you much, she had every right to be suspicious as she followed behind all of you.   
  
“The hell I will! Evelyn is my friend.”   
  
All of you headed inside the house and called out the woman’s name, and with no surprise, a voice didn’t call back out. You walked around the house, looking for someone, but all of you stopped walking when you stepped inside the living room. There sat a woman with short gray hair just sitting there with back turned towards you. You were quick to notice that the painting was hung just above the fireplace, a few feet from where she was positioned. The father’s head was leaning down, just like Sam said. You tried calling out her name one more time, but she still wouldn’t respond. Sarah kept walking towards the woman, still talking to her as if she was going to speak up at any moment now.   
  
“Evelyn? It’s Sarah Blake.” Sarah said, taking a few more steps towards the woman. “Are you alright?”   
  
As Sarah reached out a hand to rest on the woman’s shoulder, a voice shouted, “Wait, Sarah, no!” But it was too late to stop the scream of fear that erupted from her throat. A sharp gasp fell from you in horror at what happened to Evelyn—Ever so slowly, her neck fell backwards, you could see her open wounds from her slit throat, she was cut right past the jugular, almost to the point of decapitation if they continued. You pressed a hand towards your mouth when the sight became too much for you, quickly, you dropped your gaze towards the floor.   
  
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” Sarah cried out, almost losing her balance from the concentration that she kept on the woman, but Sam managed to help her before she fell from stumbling backwards. The both of them wandered out towards the front door, glancing up again to the painting, the father was staring back up in the distance, as if he was mocking all of you for what happened.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Stress seemed to be the only emotion that lingered around the room when all of you gathered back to the motel. You left Sarah in a vulnerable state, leaving her with more questions of what was going on after she saw what happened to her friend, but you knew it was best to give her time to think over last night’s events. She would come back when she was ready, they always did. While Sam paced around the room after getting another voice mail from Sarah’s phone, Dean busied himself with mindless research on the laptop and you pretended to look through the documents again. But all eyes were up at the front door when a knock echoed through the room, breaking you from your concentration.   
  
Sam wasted no time and headed for the door, he opened it to see Sarah, who dodged his questions and made and beeline for the entrance. “Hey. You alright?” He asked, seeing the fear that was glazed over in her expression. She darted a glare at him.   
  
“No, actually.” She retorted, anger lining her words. “I just lied to the cops and told them I went to Evelyn’s alone and found her like that.”   
  
“Thank you.” Sam mumbled with sincerity, but she was quick to stop him before he got the wrong impression she was trying to make.   
  
“No, don’t thank me. I’m about to call them right back if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on. Who’s killing these people?” Sarah questioned, looking at all three of you. You fluttered your eyes towards Sam, she was getting antsy, and unfortunately, it was time to pull someone out from the dark. The youngest Winchester let out a small sigh before glancing back over at Sarah.   
  
“‘’What.’” He corrected her, the word muttered in one breath.   
  
“What?” She repeated. Her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.   
  
“It’s not ‘who.’ It’s ‘what’ is killing these people.” Sam tried to explain, but Sarah looked at him as if he had grown a second head while the conversation drawn on. So he tried another angle to get the woman to understand what was going on. “Sarah, you saw that painting move.”   
  
A chuckle escaped her throat while she shook her head. “No.” She mumbled as she began to walk around the move. You watched as she began to grow nervous again, she was lying to herself when she spoke. “No, I was—I was seeing things. It’s impossible.”   
  
“Yeah, well, welcome to our world.” Dean said, you threw him a glare.   
  
“Sarah, I know this sounds crazy…” Sam said, drawing her gaze back towards him. “But we think that painting is haunted.”   
  
She fell silent for a few moments, a small smile tugged at the ends of her lips when she looked down, you caught the wetness in her eyes from the sun peaking through the window when she turned her head to glance up at you again. “You’re joking.” She said. All of you kept silent, knowing you were being serious. “You’re not joking.” A sharp sigh escaped her lips. “God, the guys, I go out with.”   
  
“Sarah, think about it. Evelyn, the Telescas, they both had the paintings. And there have been others before that.” Sam said, taking small steps towards her. “Wherever this thing goes, people die, and we’re just trying to stop it…and that’s the truth.”   
  
“Well, then, I guess you better show me.” Sarah said. As she headed towards the door, she was quick to say, “I’m coming with you.”   
  
“What? No.” Sam quickly sputtered out. He shook his head. “Sarah, no. You should just go home. This stuff can get dangerous, and…” There was a short pause, you watched as he chose his words carefully when he spoke up again. “And I don’t want you to get hurt.”   
  
“Look, you guys are probably crazy, but if you’re right about this, when me and my dad sold that painting, we might have got these people killed.” Sarah brushed off his warning, you felt your lips twitch into a small smile as she went on, it was almost like they were having their first fight. “I’m not saying I’m scared, ‘because I’m scared as hell, but I’m not gonna run and hide, either.” She walked towards the door and opened it, when she caught the three of you standing there, the woman looked at Sam. “So are we going or what?” And with that, she walked out and headed towards the parking lot.   
  
“Sam,” You spoke up for the first time, he looked at you with a surprised expression, not sure how to react from what just happened. You smiled at him. “Marry that girl.”   
  
\+ + +   
  
The four of you headed over towards Evelyn’s house that was now crossed off with yellow police tape around the porch banisters but that didn’t stop any of you from ducking underneath it and heading up towards the front door. As Sam went down on his knees to pick the lock, Sarah was quick to pick out a very important fact that she thought must have slipped from your mind.   
  
“Uh…Isn’t this a crime scene?” She asked, looking around to see if anyone was watching. But everyone that was out seemed to be caught up in their own business; walking their dog or watering their plants, life went on after your neighbor was viciously murdered in her home.   
  
“You’ve already lied to the cops. What’s another infraction?” Dean joked with her. You rolled your eyes at his crude sense of humor, she smiled slightly at him. He leaned over towards the door with his pocket knife hanging from his grip, and with one swipe upwards, the white sticker with red and black bold letters: DO NOT CROSS CRIME SCENE became unreadable.   
  
Sam pushed open the door after he heard the lock turn back into its place. All of you followed behind and headed towards the living room where you found the aftermath of the gruesome crime. From the corner of your eye, you watched as Sam headed over towards the fireplace to take down the painting. You turned your head to look at the chair where you found Evelyn; there was an outline of where her body rested with white tape with blood soaked into the cushion of where she sustained her fatal injury.   
  
You looked back over when you saw that the painting was now resting on the couch, opposite of where the chair sat. Sam leaned in to take a closer observation of the painting, you noticed that the father was staring off towards the right again, different than before. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, wasn’t it staring forward last night? Shaking your head away from the thought, you were brought back into reality when Sarah spoke up again.   
  
“Aren’t you worried that it’s gonna, you know, kill us?” She couldn’t help but ask, giving all of you a worried glance before she focused on the painting again.     
  
“No, it seems to do its thing at night.” You say, reassuring her. “I think we’re all right in the daylight.”   
  
Dean glanced at the photocopied version of the painting before observing the one laying on the couch. He caught something, “Y/N, Sam, check it out.” Sam grabbed the picture from his brother while you leaned in to see what the other had found. “The razor—it’s closed in this one, but it’s open in that one.” You observed the two pictures before finding what he had pointed out towards the both of you.   
  
“What are you guys looking for?” Sarah asked.   
  
“If the spirit’s changing aspects of the painting, maybe it’s doing it for a reason.” Dean explained to her. While they were talking, you were quick to notice something that was off, you pointed your finger at the frame that hung up in the picture to Sam before looking back up at the one sitting in front of you.   
  
“Hey, hey, look at this—the painting in the painting.” You said, grabbing the paper from Sam before placing up towards the bigger one. The paintings had different ones. One had a landscape, the real one had a stone building in the  background.     
  
Dean leaned in closer to see what you had found. “It looks like a crypt or mausoleum or something.” He said, observing the picture, but none of you could see it quite properly.     
  
You breathed through your nose when you stood up straighter, trying to wrack your brain for an idea of what you could use as a makeshift magnifying glass. Looking around, your eyes caught sight of a small crystal bowl, you grabbed it and pressed it just above your eye, it would have to do. You leaned over and pressed it towards the painting, you moved it around slightly to make out the name that was written above the stone building. “Merchant.” You read out loud. Glancing up at the brothers, you had found a clue that would lead you towards the family, and hopefully, a way for this haunting to end for good before someone else died again.   
  
\+ + +   
  
A chorus of caws echoed in your ears while you walked on the grass that was spread across with graves. Your feet were beginning to hurt from the amount of walking all of you have been doing this morning, you knew you should have worn more comfortable shoes. Every graveyard was beginning to blend into one; almost all the same looking tombstones, creepy looking statues, crying mourners, and each crypt that you saw wasn’t the one that you were looking for.   
  
“This is the third bone yard we’ve checked. This ghost is jerking us around.” Dean complained, walking in front of all of you, you trailed behind, ignoring his complaints that seemed to be coming out more frequently with each different destination that you search. But you couldn’t blame him, your nerves were beginning to file down from the frustration that was creeping up on you.   
  
“So, this is what you guys do for a living?” Sarah asked Sam when the both of them began to walk in sync.   
  
“No exactly.” Sam said, trying to crack a joke with her. “We don’t get paid.”   
  
“Well, mazel tov.” She mumbled, smiling slightly at him.   
  
You looked over the graveyard for a few moments before your eyes landed on what all of you were searching for. A stone crypt just laid ahead on the dirt path, the exact same one from the painting. “Over there.” You said, pointing towards the building just straight from where you stood.   
  
All of you began walking towards it, as you got close enough, you made out the same name that was engraved on top of the crypt. You glanced down to see there a rusted lock chained around the door, keeping anyone was peaking inside. But with a pair of bolt cutters now resting at Dean’s side, you watched as he headed up and wasted no time in clipping the lock, the rest of you followed behind when Dean reached to open up the iron double doors.   
  
A cough escaped your throat when you were bombarded with a breath full of dust and spiderwebs that covered the door. you grimaced when you accidently touched one while you stepped inside, you quickly brushed it off on your jeans. You observed the place to see the right side was filled with four different urns that were covered in webs from the many years of being untouched. Quick to notice, there were three little windows holding something that looked to be toys while the other side of the wall had plaques, names of the deceased family.   
  
You walked up towards the small display that was the farthest from the door, you noticed that inside was a doll, the kind that a little girl from back in the day would have. It stared at you with those painted, dead porcelain eyes. “Okay, that right there is the creepiest thing I’ve seen.” You heard Sarah say as she walked up to observe the doll. You turned your head to see she was standing right next to you, her attention fixated on the toy.   
  
“You know, it was sort of tradition at the time.” You explained to her. “Whenever a child died, sometimes they would preserve the kid’s favorite toy in a glass case, put it next the headstone in the crypt.” She nodded her head, looking back at the three toys, still, it in slight disturbance.   
  
“Notice anything strange, here?” Dean asked, looking around the crypt one more time.   
  
“Uh, where do I start?” You remarked. You had to be honest, this place was beginning to make you feel a bit weird. Maybe it was the doll that seemed to just stare at you.   
  
“No, that’s not what I mean.” Dean said. “Look at the urns.”   
  
“Yeah, there are only four.” Sam glanced over, finding what his brother was talking about.   
  
“Mom and the three kids.” You noted, looking at the ashes again. “Daddy Dearest isn’t here.”   
  
“So, where is he?” Sam questioned. You shrugged your shoulders, knowing there was just one more stop to figure out where their father was kept, the public library should help clear things over. You glanced over at Sarah and Sam, you thought yourself for a few moments, also a perfect place to leave the two alone for a while. A small smile crept across your lips when you followed behind Dean to load all of yourselves back into the car and headed off again.   
  
\+ + +   
  
“They’re so cute.”   
  
“Can you please focus?”   
  
“I wonder what they’re talking about.”   
  
“Y/N, please.“ Dean groaned out your name again when you kept your gaze fixated on the wall length windows that overlooked the outside entrance. There sat Sarah and Sam, they had been talking for the most part when you glanced up from the computer screen from time to time. A smile crept across your lips when you saw Sam reach up and ever so softly, brush his fingertips against her cheek before he dropped it back down.   
  
"Y/N. Focus.”   
  
Turning your head back to Dean, you noticed his annoyed glares that was beginning to sketch across his face from your lack of attention. You gave him another glare before you kept yourself busy, typing in something and clicking on a few links before you found what you were looking for, you clicked a button and seconds later you heard the printer kick on that was just a foot from where you were sitting. Glancing back at Dean, you gave him a smug expression.   
  
“Relax Winchester, my part is done,” You remarked, getting up from the seat and heading towards the printer where you grabbed the warm piece of paper. “I hope you and your brother don’t mind getting your hands dirty, tonight.” It took him a few moments to realize what you were hinting at, nothing more than an annoyed glare sketched over his face. Finding it amusing, your lips stretched into a small smile. You folded up the piece of paper and nodded your head towards the door. “Let’s go.”   
  
The both of you headed out of the library and back into the warm air. Falling into a comfortable silence, you happened to overhear part of the conversation the two were having, and by the sounds of it, it wasn’t going as well as you thought it was before. Sam was still afraid of getting someone hurt, but it was something needed to come to terms with, you wanted to shake the fear of out of him. It might bags happened to Jess, but it didn’t mean that he was going to do this to every girl we met. A second chance at happiness was sitting right in front of him, and you weren’t going to let him ruin it just because he was scared of something that might not even come true.   
  
“Are we interrupting something?” Dean asked the two of them, breaking the stares they were giving one another. Quick as they could, mumbled response rolled out from their mouths.   
  
“No.”   
  
“Not at all.”   
  
“Apparently.” You said, eyeing them both.   
  
“So, what did you guys get?” Sam asked.   
  
“Pay dirt.” Dean said. Whatever that meant.   
  
“Apparently, the surviving relatives of the Merchant family were so ashamed of Isaiah they they didn’t want him interred with the family, so they handed him over to the county.” You explained, glancing down at the paper every so often to take reference. “The county gave him a Pauper’s funeral, economy-style. And it turns out he wasn’t cremated. He was buried in a pine box.”   
  
“So there are bones to burn.“ Sam said, you nodded your head.   
  
"There are bones to burn.” Dean repeated his brother with joy.   
  
“Tell me you know where.” Sam was almost pleading, hoping this case would be leading to a simple salt and burn to wrap everything. You smiled at him, lifting up the map you had marked where his grave was. Oh, how you loved the Internet.

  
\+ + +

You stood in the dark with your arms crossed over your chest watching as the dirt pile went from a layer of grass towards a large enough pile to dig a six foot deep grave. It was close towards the middle of the night when the four of you arrived at the cemetery where the father was buried. While the brothers busied themselves away with getting started on the salt and burn after hunting down the tombstone, Sarah watched as the scene unfold with the flashlight aimed down the shallow grave. You could tell from the shaky light and her ever so slightly cracked mouth that she still wasn’t quite comfortable with the idea of everything that was happening so quickly. But she was hiding her fear well, better than you would have if you were in her position at this moment.  


  
After a while of digging, Sam climbed out the grave and headed over towards you and Sarah, leaving his brother to finish the rest. You could tell they were getting closer now by the depth of the hole that was beginning to make them disappear from sight, it would be just a short while longer until you were getting this hunt wrapped up with.   
  
“You guys seem to be uncomfortably comfortable with this.” Sarah said, never taking her eyes off the open grave that was becoming deeper with each passing moment.   
  
“Well,” Sam took a small pause before speaking up again. “this isn’t exactly the first grave we dug. Still think I’m a catch?” He flashed a joking smile at Sarah, you laughed quietly at his horrible sense of humor.   
  
The sounds of the shovel thumping against something like wood caught your attention. Leaning over the side of the grave, you saw that Dean was hitting his shovel against the loose dirt that was yet to be dug up. “Think I got something.” You learned in a bit closer while Sarah flashed the light at a better angle to make out what he had found below. Dean took a few rough swings at the ground before the wooden coffin underneath his feet shattered from the pressure, and in the mess of the broken pine and splinters, there laid the skeletal remains of Isaiah.   
  
Dean pushed himself out of the grave before him and his brother began to start the process; he went from each end of the grave making sure to pour a decent amount of salt while Sam followed in the other direction, pouring out gasoline from the canister to top off the mix. Before you started the fire, you looked up at the three. “Any last words before we end this?”   
  
“You’ve been a real pain in the ass, Isaiah.” Dean spoke up, you couldn’t agree more. “Good riddance.”   
  
With the final words being said, you scraped the tip of the match against the box and threw it into the grave, watching as the fire slowly grew until the familiar smell of smoke and decomposing body filled your nostrils. It was the smell of another job well done—in a very, very odd sort of way. All of what was left was getting rid of the hideous painting that someone once called art, then this case would be officially closed for good.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Some might call it immature behavior, you called it match making. On the way back to Evelyn’s house, you snatched the passenger seat from Sam, claiming your legs needed the extra room, a little white lie to get him and Sara closer together. The poor boy was cramped in the backseat with her, but it seemed from the looks on their faces that you could make out from the mirror, they weren’t complaining one bit. You hid the smirk that dared to spread across your lips. Everything that you had hoped was going according to plan, the two of them seemed to be getting closer and closer.   
  
“Dean, keep the motor running.” Sam instructed. He opened up the door and stepped out to the street, getting ready to head back up to the house one last time.   
  
“I thought you said the painting was harmless now.” Sarah said, leaning towards the side that Sam had gotten out of. You watched from the side mirror as he leaned down ever so slightly so he was closer to her.   
  
“Better safe than sorry. We’re gonna bury the sucker.” He explained, your lips twitched into a smile when Sarah began to hop out of her seat to follow behind.   
  
“I want to come with you.” She said, getting out of the car and following behind to the house.   
  
“Are you sure?” Sam asked, Sarah nodded her head. She began walking towards the porch steps, and before Sam could trail behind her, Dean was leaning towards his brother that was standing next to your door, you let the window roll down all the way a you could talk to him in private.   
  
“Hey, hey, hey.” Dean whispered, making sure Sarah couldn’t hear him. “We’ll stay here. You go make your move.” His brother ignored his suggestion, slowly piecing together what you and him were trying to do, but he wasn’t giving up so easily. “Sam, I’m serious!”   
  
But you watch as the youngest Winchester headed up the steps, ignoring the small protests that his brother tried to woo him back towards the car for more unwanted advice. So Dean decided to change up the mood; he leaned over and turned on the car radio and switched to a station that was playing mid-tempo music, the kind that you would find in a cheesy-romantic film. Just as the two of them headed up the steps and duck underneath the police tape, you blasted it just a bit louder for them to hear. Sam quickly turned around and gave the both of you an annoyed glare. Dean had draped his arm over the back of your seat, pretending to not know what his brother was getting at.   
  
All though you let out a sigh of defeat when Sam made a cutting motion with his hand for this to stop. You leaned over and clicked the radio off, knowing that he would never let it down if you continued with this. You watched as the two headed into the house for a few moments with the door open. As the moments passed, you fixated your gaze on something in the distance, you were beginning to let the silence lull you into a mindless state of mind. That was, until you heard the sounds of something like a creaking door break you from your thoughts. You quickly turned your head to see the front door ever so slowly begin to close by a breeze until it slammed shut in just a blink of an eye with a loud thud.   
  
Frantically, you reached for the passenger’s side door handle and ripped it open, not wasting anytime in following behind Dean. The both of you ran as fast as you could up the front steps, ignoring the police tape that stood in your way, you could hear the faint sounds of the plastic snapping from your weight before the banging took over. You pounded your body against the door, hoping the combined weight with you and Dean would be enough to get it open, but an invisible force was keeping it tightly shut.   
  
“Dean! Y/N!” A distant voice from behind the door called out over the sounds of heavy footsteps pounding against the floors. There was a familiar sound of pounding against the wood before Sam spoke up again. “Hey, is that you?!”   
  
“Sammy, you alright?” Dean asked, but his brother didn’t answer. Just a few seconds later, his phone began to ring. He quickly reached inside his jacket pocket and answered it. “Tell me it was you slammed the front door.”   
  
“No it wasn’t me. I think it was the little girl.” Sam said from the other line.   
  
“Girl? What girl?” Dean questioned.   
  
“Yeah. She was out of the painting. I think it might have been her all along.” Sam explained.   
  
You grabbed the phone from Dean when he leaned down to pick the lock to see if that would work. “Hey, wasn’t the dad looking down at her? Maybe he was trying to warn us.”   
  
“Hey, let’s recap later. Just get us out of here.” Sam said. You could hear the panic rising in his voice.   
  
“Dean is trying to pick the lock, but it looks like the door won’t budge.” You said.   
  
“Break it down.” Sam suggested, you rolled your eyes in frustration.   
  
“Okay, genius, let me grab my battering ram!” You hissed into the phone, sarcasm dripping in your words.   
  
“Y/N, the damn thing’s coming!” Sam shouted from the other line just loud enough to make your ear begin to ring from the unwanted noise. You looked over at Dean with panic rising in your facial expressions, not sure what to do, but an idea quickly crossed your mind, hoping that it would work.   
  
“You’re gonna have to hold it off until we figure something out.” You said. “Get some salt or iron.”   
  
While you heard the sound of cabinet doors being slammed open and shut, Sam let out a sharp sigh of annoyance. “What kind of house doesn’t have salt?” He questioned to no one in particular. He mumbled a few words underneath his breath before speaking to Sarah, the conversation was muttered and almost unrecognizable from the noise coming from the background. A few seconds later, you heard Sam speak up again. “Uh, Y/N, give me a sec. Don’t go anywhere.”   
  
You tapped your foot against the wooden floorboard, beginning to grow restless from the long pause that was coming from the other line. You began to walk towards a window to see if you could see inside to observe what was taking so long. As you leaned on your toes to peek through one with the curtains closed, you were quick to notice the flowing curtains that were being moved from a sudden breeze that passed through. You caught a glimpse of the little girl before she vanished from your sight, a curse word escaped your mouth. “Sam, are you okay?” You asked, following behind Dean while he tried to look for a way to get inside the house.   
  
“Yeah, for now.” He said, you let out a small sigh of relief.   
  
“How are we gonna waste her?” Dean asked, speaking loud enough for his brother to hear.   
  
“I don’t know. She was already cremated.” Sam said. “There’s nothing left to burn.”   
  
“Well, then, how is she still around?” You asked, irritation lining in your words.   
  
“There must be something else.” Sam said. While you tried to wrack your brain for ideas of what her spirit could be latching onto, you headed down the steps, following Dean while he looked to see if there was any possible opening to get one of you in there to rescue his brother and Sarah. You could hear the both of them say something in a whispered tone before Sam spoke up again to you. “Y/N? Sarah says the doll might have the girl’s hair. Human remains—same as bones.”   
  
You thought about it for a few moments before you remembered the porcelain doll that was just next to the daughter’s urn. You knew where to find that doll. “The mausoleum.” You and Sam said at the same time.   
  
You shook your head when you realized what you just did. “God, I’m turning into you and your brother.” You mumbled, waving for Dean to head towards the Impala. The both of you rushed towards the car and loaded inside, just as you closed your door, he slammed his foot against the gas, sending it straight down the road.   
  
\+ + +   
  
Driving back to the cemetery seemed to take centuries, you nervously tapped your foot against the floor, your fingers twitching in your lap, waiting for the moment to rip open the door and send yourself flying back into the crypt. When you saw the headlights shine on the stone building and the Impala jerk into a rough stop, you wasted no time and flung open the door. Both of you rushed up towards the iron gates and ripped them open. You headed up towards the case and pounded your fist against the glass, but to your dismay, it was Plexiglas, nearly impossible to break on its own. You gritted your teeth in anger.   
  
Dean tried himself to try and break the glass window, but still, it wouldn’t budge from the pressure. He even pulled out his gun that was stashed in his coat pocket and slammed the handle against it, but after a handful of swings, he dropped his arm towards his side. You looked down to see what he had, not making it out in the darkness, you rolled your eyes when he began to walk away to grab something from the trunk. You quickly snatched it from his hands when a plan crossed your mind. You just hope it would work.   
  
“Come on, Dean.” You muttered underneath your breath in frustration, surprised that he didn’t think of it sooner.   
  
Aiming the gun towards the window and shielding your face from the flying debris, you pulled on the trigger and closed your eyes, hearing the familiar sounds of gunshots ring inside your ears—with the sounds of the glass breaking from pressure. You quickly rushed over and used the warm handle to move aside the glass to keep yourself from getting cut on the sharp edges so you could take out the doll. Dean reached inside his pocket again to take out his lighter that would come in handy in just a few seconds.   
  
As he flipped it open, he grabbed the porcelain doll from your hands and tried to start the lighter a few times, but it wouldn’t spark up. “Come on! Come on!” He hissed out in anger. You bit your bottom lip hard enough to draw blood from the anxiety growing inside your chest, you were about to fear the worst, that was, until you saw a familiar flash of orange before smoke began to rise through the air. The doll’s hair began to burn at the tips before all the brown locks burst into flames, the both of you watch for a few moments before he dropped it towards the ground to let it continue.   
  
The fire went on long enough until it put itself out, ending at the top of the hair. All what remained of any trace of the little girl was turned into ashes on the ground. Dean dug for his phone and punched in his brother’s number, hoping that it would pick up. After the second ring, the oldest brother spoke up first. “Sam, you good?” He asked in a concerned voice.   
  
There was a long pause before he finally answered. “Not bad.” You let out a sigh of relief, happy to hear those two words. You and Dean looked at one another before heading back towards the Impala, going to see what the damage was done back at the house.   
  
\+ + +   
  
After everything had settled down from the previous night, you decided to do some research on the daughter, wondering what was causing her to do such gruesome crimes from past the grave. What you found wasn’t exactly what you were expecting, it was worse. You swung past the auction house where the brothers and Sarah were, watching as two movers were boarding up the painting that was going to be hidden away for a long time, just to be safe. With the papers in hand, you held them up for all of them to see what you had found.   
  
“This was archived in the county records.” You said, glancing down at the papers for a moment before looking up at them again. “The Merchant’s adopted daughter, Melanie, you wanna know why she was up for adoption? ‘Cause her real family was murdered in their beds.”   
  
“She killed them?” Sarah asked with disbelief. Glancing over at the painting, the little girl seemed innocent enough to just seem like another child with a tragic past, but there was much more bubbling underneath the surface that she let out on her countless victims. This seems like this entire case seemed like it was straight out of a Stephen King novel, the creepiness sent a chill down your spine.   
  
“Yeah, who would suspect her? A sweet little angel.” You said, watching as the movers placed on the top board of the box. “So then she kills Isaiah and his family. The old man takes the blame. I’m guessing his spirit’s been trying to warn people ever since.”   
  
“Where’s this one go?” One of the movers asked Sarah, breaking all of you from the conversation.   
  
“Take it out back and burn it.” She instructed. The moves kept quiet for a few moments, their faces scrunching up in confusion, not sure if they heard her correctly. “I’m serious, guys. Thanks.” She said again in a harder tone. The moves just shrugged their shoulders and began to move the heavy box. “So, why did the girl do it?” She asked, trying to make sense of the brutal history.   
  
“Killing others, killing herself—some people are just born tortured.” Sam explained to her. “So when they die, their spirits are just as dark.”   
  
“Maybe. I don’t really care. It’s over.” Dean said, shrugging off another case. “We move on.”   
  
Sarah let out a quiet sigh, the realization that the time together with Sam would soon be coming to an end. Her eyes fixated on the man. “I guess this means you’re leaving.” She mumbled. You glanced at the two of them for a few moments before making eye contact with Dean, you nodded your head towards the auction entrance.   
  
“We’ll go wait in the car. It was nice to see you, Sarah.” You said, smiling warmly at her.   
  
Dean forced an awkward smile, you rolled your eyes at how he was getting—jealously. “See you, Sarah.” He muttered. The both of you headed out the door, as you began walking in sync towards the exit, you heard him whisper something underneath his breath. “I’m the one who burned the doll and destroyed the spirit. But don’t thank me or anything—Now!” You shook your head at him after punching him straight in the arm when he wasn’t paying attention. When he flashed you a dirty glare, you innocently smiled.   
  
“Thank you.” You said, hoping that it would make him feel a bit better. As the ends of his lips twitched into a smile, you quickly added on, “Big baby.” You quietly laughed to yourself and began to walk faster, ignoring the glares that he must be giving you by now.   
  
The both of you headed towards the parked Impala, you let a silence fall between the both of you for a few moments. You leaned your backside against the driver’s side and watched the front door entrance to see when it would open. As you began thinking about what Sam had told you about his past girlfriend and what has been going between Sarah, you glanced up at Dean.   
  
“Have you ever met a girl like Jess?” You wondered. He looked down at you, not sure what you were getting at. “I mean, have you found yourself falling head over heels for a nice, normal girl who has no idea of this lifestyle? You find yourself wanting to know what she looks like when she’s sleeping next to you in bed on a Sunday morning, or what it would be like to go shopping for the dumbest things—like, I don’t know, pots and pans.” Dean chuckled at your example, but you continued. “Have you ever met someone that makes you question everything you stand for? That makes you wonder if this lifestyle is worth the risk of dying?”   
  
Dean opened up his mouth to reply with something sarcastic, but the look on your face, those curious eyes of yours, he let out a quiet sigh before telling the truth. “Once.” He admitted. You waited for him to continue, but he just kept silent after that. You were about to pester him for more details, but your head turned to see the door open again to reveal Sam and Sarah as the walked out.   
  
You pushed yourself into a standing position when you watched as Sam said one more goodbye towards the woman before he began walking towards the both of you. You heard him getting closer with each passing second, but suddenly, they began to become quieter. Looking over your shoulder, you saw that he was heading towards the door again. A smile spread across your lips when you realized what he was doing.   
  
Sam knocked on the door, waiting a few moments before Sarah opened up the door, a bit surprised to see that he was back again. But your lips twitched into a grin when you watched as he gently grabbed her by the face and locked his lips with hers. You couldn’t help yourself but reach over and wrap your arms around Dean’s, leaning yourself against him while the both of you watch them share a moment. A pound feeling began to flutter inside your chest when you realized that all the little jokes of torture had worked out.   
  
“Well, I say Sammy’s all grown up.” You joked, looking up at him.   
  
“That’s our boy.” Dean said with a smirk. You looked up at him for a few moments before glancing down at the ground, a smile of your own spread across your lips, happy at the outcome of everything. Another job well done.


	19. Dead Man's Blood.

You leaned back in your seat with your hands wrapped around your warm coffee cup, your eyes wandered towards the glass window that was on your right side, watching as a car passed by before it disappeared from your vision again. You blinked a few times to keep your eyelids from fluttering shut, a yawn escaped your lips, but disguising it as you pressed the cup to your lips once more for a caffeine fix. You say say in the middle of the table with Dean on your right, he busied himself by flipping through a newspaper to see if there was anything abnormal while Sam was on his laptop, scavenging the internet for a possible lead for a next case.

But this past week, nothing seemed to have passed the three of you that seemed supernatural kind of strange. Which meant a small break for all of you, something that you weren’t quite used towards while you had been while traveling with the brothers for the past year now. You had found yourself slowly itching for anything to get yourself out of this place—a cat stuck up in a tree, Lassie needing help to find Billy, goddammit, anything. Because when you weren’t working to keep yourself distracted, you had found yourself slowly slipping back towards the cycle that you had broken for a while now. You tried to think of a logical reason why this was happening again, but you had found yourself paying attention more towards not falling asleep in your untouched breakfast that was growing cold now.

“Alright, dude,” You broke your concentration from the glass when you heard the newspaper being folded closed and Dean speaking up again. “Not a decent lead in all of Nebraska. What do you got?”

“Well, I’ve been scanning Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota.” Sam said, going through some news articles he had saved before clicking towards one that had caught his attention. You leaned over in your seat to see what he had found. “Here—a woman in Iowa fell ten thousand feet from an airplane and survived.”

You glanced up from the computer screen to give him a dull look. “Sounds more like ‘That’s Incredible!’ than ‘Twilight Zone.’” You said. Sam nodded his head, mumbling a yeah before trying again to look something that would seem more appropriate for their line of work. You dropped yourself back into your seat and took another sip of your drink.

“Hey, you know, we could just keep heading east—New York, upstate.” Dean suggested, you glanced in his direction, knowing what he was hinting at. His lips stretched into a smile when his brother looked up from the computer for a few moments before dropping it back down, not making a comment, so Dean continued. “Could stop by again and see Sarah, huh? She’s a cool chick, man Smokin’.”

You let out a scoff from his last comment and an eye roll. You need sleep. You’re being a bitch. But you decided to join in the efforts to make the boy see the woman that had left him swooning, obviously wanting to see her once more. And you had to admit she was quite nice, you wouldn’t mind popping in to see her again. “You two seemed pretty friendly, what do you say?” You asked.

“Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe someday” Sam mumbled, shrugging off the suggestions. “But in the meantime, we got a lot of work to do, Dean and Y/N, you guys know that.”

“Yeah. You’re right.” You said. Better to keep yourself busy than find yourself going insane. “What else do you have?”

“Uh, man in Colorado. Local man by the name of Daniel Elkins was found mauled in his home.” Sam read off from another article he pulled up. You shrugged your shoulders, knowing that there was always something more than just some animal attack, there always was.

“Elkins.” Dean repeated. “I know that name.”

“Doesn’t ring a bell.” Sam said. You shook your head, not sure of who he referring to. While Sam continued going on about this man, Dean busied himself by digging into his brother’s bag and pulling out their father’s journal. “Looks like the cops don’t know what to think. At first they said it was some sort of bear attack, and now they found signs of robbery.”

“Mm-hmm.” Dean hummed. You turned your head to see that he was flipping through the journal, trying to find a specific page. All of you fell into a quiet silence again when all of you lost focus for a few moments. While you found yourself fixated on a sugar canister on the diner’s counter top, Dean’s voice brought you back into reality again when you found the journal being shoved off into your position before handing it to Sam. “Here. Check it out.”

You and Sam looked at what his brother had pointed towards, you read almost everything on the page until your eyes caught sight of the scribbles that read off the man’s name and phone number that Sam had been talking about just a moment ago. You looked up again at Dean, “You think it’s the same Elkins?” You asked.

“It’s a Colorado area code.” Dean said. Sam looked at it for a few seconds longer, Dean arched his eyebrows up, wondering if this could be the gig they had been looking for. Colorado was just a state over, and with nothing seeming interesting than this bear attack turned robbery, you weren’t going to waste anymore time than staring at an empty wall hoping something better will come along.

\+ + +

All of you arrived in Colorado in the same day; after hunting down where Elkins had lived, which was the middle of nowhere apparently, you decided it wouldn’t hurt to take a peek around the place to see what the damage was done. Night had fallen when you and the brothers arrived at the small cabin that was secluded in the middle of the mountains. A light snowfall was falling from above while you waited for Sam to finish picking the two deadbolts and door lock, you snuggled yourself deeper into your jacket and knitted scarf, angry that you didn’t grab some heavier clothing from back home for occasions like this.

Luckily Sam finished after another minute, allowing the front door to swing open. You dug your hands out from your jacket pocket and pulled out your flashlight so you could see where you were going in the house. You stepped inside the door with Dean leading and Sam following in the back, you flashed the light around the place, wandering around the place to see that it was ever so messy. You walked around the house until you stepped into what you were presuming was the man’s office. The wall on your left was covered in a collage of different drawings and documents with a desk pushed up against it filled with what you had presumed; a computer, a mix of office supplies and books.

As you glanced over the books, most of them seemed to be the same that you had seen the brothers used on a few other cases and one that was written in Latin. But when you caught a glimpse of one that seemed oddly familiar with a sticky note on top of it, you found yourself walking a bit further into the room to see what it said. The flashlight focused on a brown covered book that looked like it hadn’t been touched in years from the amount of dust that covered it, the neon yellow sticky note was written with a scribbled message, you leaned down a bit further to see what it read.

 

Danny, 

I need this out of my house before she sees it again. Burn it, bury it. I don’t care. Please stop trying to make me feel bad for what I’ve done. —Ella

Ella? Could it be? No, maybe it was just a coincidence. There was a lot of people with that name. You read the note over again while you observed the handwriting that looked like it was done in rushed time. You couldn’t help yourself but reach over and rip off the note, letting it fall towards the ground. With a free hand, you ran your fingers over the cover—but to your surprise it wasn’t hard like you had suspected, but more of a leather feel like John’s journal. You flipped opened the cover to make the discovery that you had been secretly thinking of, this must have been your mother’s, and by what you were reading, this was way before she had you or met your father. This was during her hunting days when she was a teenager.

Dear Diary,

Welcome to day one of Hell. (Ha ha.) My training has officially begun; for the next two months I’ll be under the supervision of Bobby Singer, a family friend that I have never met before. My parents dropped me off with a quick introduction before they headed off for a case in Washington. He seems okay. But I don’t know how he’s supposed to teach me the basics of a hunting. Dad said he was the best, even taught him everything he knew. While most kids my age are hunting for a summer fling, I’ll be stuck inside this stuffy house learning a dead language or practicing my aim. Kill me.

 

“Looks like the maid took the day off.”

The booming voice of Dean made you jump out of your skin in surprise, you were suddenly acting like a small child that was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. You quickly turned around, stumbling ever so slightly until your back was pressed against the table with each hand resting on the cold wood, blocking him from what you had saw. He furrowed his eyebrows at your behavior, giving you a concerned look, you immediately stretched your lips into a convincing smile, forcing a breathy laugh out to keep up the charade.

“You scared me.” You mumbled. Slowly, you closed the journal and shifted it so it was now pressed against your backside. You had to figure out a way to sneak this without the brothers knowing what you were up to. But with Dean’s eyes keeping themselves on your face, a heat began to make your cheeks a rosy pink. “W-What?” You stuttered out.

“Are you okay? You’ve been pretty out of it these past few days.” Crap. You nod your head, hoping that will drop the interrogation that he’s probably been itching to do, when he dropped his attention towards something else, you let out a sigh of relief only you could hear.

You turned back around towards the journal, an aching feeling slowly rising in your stomach when your fingertips traced the pen marks from her writing. This was your mother’s, it had to be. You looked over your shoulder to see that Dean was paying attention towards something else, almost oblivious to your presence now, so you took your chance. You opened up your jacket just enough for you to tuck the journal inside, saving it for tonight when you were alone. You zipped your jacket back up when someone else spoke up, breaking you from your concentration once more.

“Hey, there’s salt over here, right inside the door.” Sam called out from the other room.

“You mean, like, protection-against-demon salt,” Dean reached for something on the desk, you flashed your light over to see what it was, your eyebrows furrowed when you made out something that looked like another journal that was similar to John’s. “Or ‘Oops, I spilled the popcorn’ salt?”

“It’s clearly a ring.” Sam noted, his voice getting louder when he began to follow where you and his brother had went off to. “You think this guy Elkins was a player?”

“Definitely.” Dean said. He grew quiet once more when he found himself becoming interested in the book in front of him. You leaned over the desk to see what the man had scribbled down through the pages. You weren’t quite shocked to see similar looking notes with familiar symbols that you have seen handful other times. But your attention was drawn up again when you saw Sam towering over his brother’s shoulder to take a look at what his brother had found.

“That looks a hell of a lot like Dad’s.” Sam said.

“Except this dates back to the sixties.” You noted when you caught glances at the dates and information that was well outdated. Suddenly the book that you had found was beginning to become a lot heavier when you began to think about about the situation.

After flipping through the journal for a few more minutes, you wandered around the house a bit more until all of you stumbled upon the wreckage of a room that the police had found Elkins. You nearly lost your footing when you weren’t paying attention, but managing to catch yourself before you went face first in a dangerous mix of books, broken glass and wood. You flashed your light over the mess; a bookcase that was well taller than you was lying on its side right across from the door, debris of broken glass and wood made your attention turn upwards when Sam had drawn his flashlight upwards. You saw the skylight window was broken, it looked like someone had jumped or fallen through, definitely ruling out a possible bear attack. Unless Yogi was suddenly gifted with the ability to climb trees, this seemed to be turning out as their kind of gig, after all.

“Whatever attacked him, looks like there was one than one.” Sam said, dropping his gaze back down when you began to head deeper into the room.

“Looks like he put up a hell of a fight, too.” You mumbled. You headed over towards the large oak desk to see if you could find anything of value or clues, Sam trailing behind. While you and him began to pick up all different sorts of objects, Dean wandered around the room, taking a look at something that was dropped on the ground before heading a few feet over, he dropped to one knee when he saw something sketched in the wooden floors. “Got something?” You asked, joining the other brother again to see what he had found.

“I don’t know. Some scratches in the floor.” Dean said, his fingers tracing the pattern.

“Death throes maybe?” Sam asked, seeing the amount of blood that was covering the place, you wouldn’t be surprised if it was just that. But it seemed that Elkins was a sneaky man.

“Maybe.” Dean mumbled. He reached over to grab a piece of paper and a pencil from the table. You watched as he tapped the paper into the floor, making sure it was sticking, using the blood as a makeshift glue before he took the tip of the pencil and began shading away. He dropped the pencil toward the ground when he realized what it was. “Or maybe a message.” Dean handed his brother the piece of paper for him and you to look over. “Look familiar?”

“Three letters, six digits—the location and combination of a post office box.” Sam finally figured it out after observing it for a few seconds. “It’s a mail drop.”

“That’s just the way Dad does it.” Dean said. You looked at the three of them, none of you wasted anytime before tracking down the post office, wondering what the man had hidden away.

\+ + +

It was just a letter, addressed to someone that you weren’t expecting.

You leaned yourself against the small counter, watching as Dean put in the combination to the small box, when the lock clicked open and the door flew open, none of you were quite sure what to expect. But when your eyes saw an envelope stuffed inside, your eyebrows furrowed. Dean pulled out the white envelope to see who it was addressed to. When you caught the look of surprise on his face, you glanced over to see who it was for. J.W. was written top with the address for the post office written below. All of you gave one another confused glances, not sure what to make of the situation.

After reconvening back towards the car, you rested your body against the front seat with your attention still on the letter. Dean held in his hands, not sure what to do. “‘J.W.’—You think? John Winchester?” Sam asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the three of you.

“I don’t know. Should we open it?”

Just as you were suggesting to, a knock on the driver’s side window made all of jump in fright, but the mood shifted in surprise when you saw who was standing outside—there was John himself, and looking better than all of you had left him. You scooted yourself towards the other side of the car when you watched as the backseat door opened, the man slipped himself inside while the brothers twisted around their seats, not sure of what to make of their new guest.

“Dad, what are you doing here? Are you alright?” Sam quickly began to fire questions at his brother, not giving the man a moment to breathe.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” John said, well, okay for someone in his situation. “Look, I read the news about Daniel. I got here as fast as I could.” You and the brothers looked at one another, not sure what was going on. “I saw you three up at his place.”

“Why didn’t you come in, Dad?” Sam asked.

“You know why. Because I had to make sure you weren’t followed,” John dropped quit for a few moments before he spoke up again. “By anyone…or anything.” Sometimes you had forgotten how dangerous this hunting business was, never knowing if someone was coming after you or if the killer was lurking around for a new prey, but Dean seemed to always be on top of it. “Nice job covering your tracks, by the way.” John praised his oldest son, you watch as his lips twitched into a small smile at his father’s words.

“Yeah, well, we learned from the best.” Dean said. His smile dropped after a few seconds.

“Wait, so you came all the way out here for the Elkins guy?” Sam kept up with the twenty questions, trying to draw out information from his father.

“Yeah. I did. He was—He was a good man.” John said. You could see that he was a bit taken back by the man’s death while he spoke. You felt your hand subconsciously touch the journal that you still had buried in your jacket when he continued speaking. “He was one of Ella’s mentors, she introduced us. He taught us a hell of a lot about hunting.”

“You never mentioned him to us.” You said, surprised that he would keep that kind of information from you. John looked down for a few seconds before looking up at the three of you.

“We had a—we had kind of a falling out. “I hadn’t seen him in years.” The man admitted. Kind of like him and your mother, you dug your fingernails in the similar reunions. But he didn’t keep on the topic much longer when he caught sight of the letter that Dean was still holding. “I should take a look at that.” You watched as John grabbed the envelope and opened the letter, reading it out loud for a few moments before dropping silent to read it silently. “‘If you’re reading this. I’m already dead.’ That son of a bitch.”

“What is it?” Dean asked with concern.

“He had it the whole time.” John mumbled, ignoring his son’s question, your eyebrows furrowed.

“Dad, what?”

“When you searched the place, did you see a gun, a colt revolver?” John questioned all of you. All of you retraced your steps, trying to remember what you could see in the debris, but never did you see any sort of weapon, even one that resembled a gun. “Did you see it?”

“Uh, there was an old case, but it was empty.” Dean said, speaking up again.

“They have it.” John muttered underneath his breath.

“You mean whatever killed Elkins?” Dean asked.

“We got to pick up their trail.” John ignored his son’s question, getting himself out of the car once more. We? Well, that was new word he was finally beginning to understand, but you didn’t know if they included you, still not sure what was going on yourself.

“Wait. You want us to come with you?” You couldn’t help yourself but ask, positioning yourself against the seat when John was now standing next to the driver’s side window.

“If Elkins is telling the truth, we’ve got to find this gun.” John said, as if that was going to be good enough for all of you to tag along without asking anymore questions, but Sam kept it going.

“The gun? Why?”

“Because it’s important, that’s why.” John said in a stern tone, quickly becoming irritated with his youngest’s same old behavior.

“Dad, we don’t even know what these things are yet.” Sam argued back, bringing up a valid point.

“They were what Danny Elkins killed best,” What came rolling out of John’s mouth wasn’t what you were expecting, but you didn’t know why it came at such a surprise from what you’ve seen these past months alone. But this monster seemed more of a work of fiction, like zombies, something that you read in books, not expecting to kill. “Vampires.”

“Vampires?” You repeated him. “I thought there was no such thing.”

“You never even mentioned them, Dad.” Sam said, joining you on your disbelief.

“I thought they were extinct. I thought Elkins and the others had wiped them out. I was wrong.” John admitted. Before he left, he made sure to fill all of you in on a few details about this monsters that you thought were creatures of the night, typical Anne Rice or Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but you were terribly wrong.

Turns out these vampires were going to be a real pain in the ass.

\+ + +

A foreign voice and static was one of the first things you managed to pick up from the slow ride back into consciousness. You were only going to lay down for a few minutes after all of you arrived to a motel, but when your body hit the mattress, you were out for longer than you had intended to be. When you opened your eyelids it was clear that the day had arrived; a cloudy sight was seen, but the sun was peaking through every so often.

Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to get more sleep, you closed your eyes again, you let your body become relaxed again for a few moments before you were just at the right spot…You were woken up again to the feeling of someone shaking you ever so slightly, as if they knew you were awake. A groan escaped your lips when a voice called out your name and something like boys soon followed afterwards. You mumbled something incoherent before trying to roll back towards the other side of the bed, not knowing that someone else was lying next to you. Your eyes popped open to see the backside of Dean, who was trying himself to get awake.

Propping your body up on an elbow, you made out a blurry John that was standing over the beds, waiting impatiently for all of you to follow his lead. You were beginning to debate with yourself if you wanted out of this, knowing it was going to be awkward working on the same case with a man who you’ve only shared bitter words with each time you saw him this past year, but you swallowed your pride and made yourself get out of bed. “Picked up a police call,” John explained, putting on his coat to keep himself busy.

“What happened?” Sam asked, not sitting up in bed, but still groggy.

“A couple called 911. They found a body in the street. Cops got there. Everybody was missing.” John said, filling in the details to all of you. “It’s the vampires.”

“How do you know?” Sam questioned. You wanted to roll your eyes while you got yourself out of bed to search for your shoes, it was too early to be dealing with this right now between father and son. You knew you were going to have a long day ahead of you.

“Just follow me, okay?” John ordered. And with that, you watched as their father walked out the front door with the youngest following behind in his footsteps.

You found your discarded shoes underneath the table where you had left put them, an awkward spot, but you needed to hurry up before being yelled at for being slow. Sitting down in a chair, you pulled the first shoe on your foot. “Vampires.” You mumbled to yourself with a quiet snort, still not believing of what was going on. “It gets funnier every time I hear it.”

Just as you lean down to put on your other shoe, you suddenly feel a tickle brush against the crook of your neck. You have little time time to realize what’s going on before he’s whispering in your ear with a horrible Transylvanian accent, “I want to suck your blood!” A gasp of surprise escaped your throat when you realize that Dean had moved from the bed and was now towering over you. A grin spread across his lips with a laugh following when he caught sight of your face.

“Dean! Don’t do that!” You hissed, shaking your head in anger. You put on your other shoe and tried to ignore the laughter that still came from the man, he should have known better than to try and scare you like that. Out of habit, you grabbed your scarf and wrapped it around your neck. You quickly pulled your hair out of your face, knowing that it was still messy from the unexpected slumber, but you didn’t have enough to do anything else with it. So up in went.

“Are you sure you want to be apart of this?” Dean asked. You weren’t sure if his tone of voice was sarcastic or serious. But what came rolling out his mouth next made you know he was being nothing more than using his dry humor that aggravated you. “Cause I really don’t wanna have to save your ass if they catch sight of that pretty neck of yours.”

You couldn’t help yourself but laugh, knowing that he was finding this entire situation almost comical. Never in your entire life would you ever think that you would be going up against a creature that fed off human blood. As you started heading towards the door, you gestured for him to follow along. “Come on. We should go before your dad has a cow when he finds out that his perfect son isn’t being punctual.” You joked, but with the mood shifting into an awkward one after you caught the anger slowly taking over Dean, you dropped the conversation and walked out the front door without another word.

\+ + +

You leaned yourself against the car with Sam next to you and the other brother standing right across from you. It had been nothing but silence when all of you arrived at the crime scene shortly after John. You barely had your feet out of the car before John was taking control like he wanted, barking orders that he was going to the cops and for the three of you to stay here. You brushed it off as nothing while Dean nodded his head, going along with whatever his father had told him to do. But it was just a matter of time before Sam spoke up about it.

“I don’t see why we couldn’t have gone over there with him.” Sam mumbled, watching as his father was walking back towards all of you after talking to the cops for a good ten minutes.

“Oh, don’t tell me it’s already starting.” Dean said. He looked at his brother with an annoyed glare.

“What’s starting?” Sam asked, as if he didn’t know what was going on. You gritted your teeth in anger, it was like three years ago, the calm before the storm.

“What do you got?” You spoke up for the first time since all of you had gotten here. You weren’t in the mood to deal with bad blood that was beginning to rise again. If you could get through this one hunt without anyone screaming at each other, you would be happy.

“It was them, all right. It looks like they’re heading west.” John said, you averted your gaze towards the handful of cops cars that was blocking off the road that would allow you to follow the trail that would lead to the nest of vampires. “We have to double back to get around that detour.”

“How can you be so sure?” Sam questioned. You rolled your eyes, saying his name to stop him, but he was quick to snap at you, stopping you from continuing your sentence. “I just want to know we’re going in the right direction.” You gave him a glare, but he looked at his father, as if he was ignoring you altogether.

“We are.” John simply said, trying to leave it at that.

“How do you know?” Sam kept pressing for answers.

“I found this.” Their father pulled out something small and white, you barely could see what it was. He handed over towards Dean for him to take a closer look at it, you leaned in slightly to see what he had held. You noticed that it could be mistaken for a tooth from the ivory coloring, but it was slender and oval compared to human ones, with a sharp tip at the end.

“What is it? A vampire fang?” You asked, looking up from the tooth and up at the man.

“No fangs—teeth. The second set descends when they attack.” John explained to all of you. He looked over at his son with a stern glare. “Anymore questions?” But Sam remained quiet, he averted his attention towards something else for the meantime. “Let’s get out of here. We’re losing daylight. And Dean,“ Oh God, here we go again. "Why don’t you touch up your car before it gets rust? I wouldn’t have given you the damn thing if I thought you were gonna ruin it.”

What the hell had crawled up his ass? You gave the man an annoyed look, knowing that he was beginning to channel his anger towards his other son, but Dean brushed it off as it was nothing. The man had taken care of Baby like the car was his own child, never allowing anything bad happening to it, hell even if something did, he was always on top of it to fix the small problem. And so it needed a bit of a cleaning from the amount of dirt that had collected over the last few weeks. But it didn’t give his father permission to snap at his son like that because the other two were bickering.

Now you slowly started to see the bigger picture. You opened up the back seat door and kept quiet, knowing there was something going on in this family that was deeper than you had previously thought. And no matter what you tried to say in order for these men to get over their bad blood, they were going to have to fix it themselves. 

Sam sat in the driver’s side so he could follow behind his father while Dean kept himself busy with looking over what he could about vampires. You sat in the back seat, listening every so often of what there was to know about these creatures that were beginning to be much different from the legends you remembered about them. They don’t die from a stake to the heart, obviously coffins aren’t required for sleeping, garlic is just another smelly food, silver was just another piece of jewelry…Blah, blah, blah.

“Vampires nest in groups of eight to ten. Smaller packs are sent out to hunt for food. Victims are taken to the nest where the pack keeps them alive, bleeding them alive for days or weeks.” Dean read off from the notes, the gruesome details weren’t what you expecting. You didn’t expect these kind of vampires to be so animalistic to their victims. You thought they would be more of a snatch a body and drain them dry. But with such a big number and ways to draw as little or no attention to themselves, this might have been easier.

“I wonder if that’s what happened to that 911 couple.” You said, turning your head away from the window and looked over at the brothers that were sitting up front.

“That’s probably what Dad’s thinking.” Sam said, but of course, an unwanted comment came rolling out of his mouth from the mention of the man. “Of course, it would be nice if he just told us what he thinks.”

Dean looked up from his notes and stared at his brother for a few moments, “So it is starting.”

“What?” Sam asked. He averted his attention away from the road for a few seconds, acting as if he had no idea what his brother was hinting at. Even you could see it, for crying out loud.

“Sam, we’ve been looking for Dad all year. Now we’re not with him for more than a couple of hours and there’s static already.” Dean flat out said. But still, the youngest Winchester denied all of it.

“No.” He said, brushing it off before trying to explain himself. “Look, I’m happy he’s okay, all right, and I’m happy that we’re all working together.”

“Good.” Dean said, leaning down his head expecting as if that was the end of it. But…

“It’s just the way he treats us like we’re children.” Sam vented on, Dean rolled his eyes at his brother’s anger, you let out a sigh. “He barks orders at us, Dean. He expects us to follow him without question. He keeps us on some crap need-to-know deal.”

“He does what he does for a reason.” You spoke up, surprised that you were defending the man, but you understood his reasons to keep his children with little to no knowledge. You can never be too safe when it comes to preparing for the worst.

“What reason?” Sam snapped at you, as if you weren’t apart of his argument.

“Your job!” You found yourself leaning over the seat so you were closer to him. “I might still be new to this, but I’ve learn a lot. There’s no time to argue. There’s no margin for error. It’s just how your old man runs things.”

“Yeah, well, maybe that worked when we were kids, but not anymore, all right? Not after everything you, Dean and I have been through.” Sam continue to go on. But the next thing he said made you blood boil in anger. “Are you telling me, the girl who has fought her way to take control when things don’t go her way—is cool with just falling into line and letting him run the whole show?”

His eyes were fixated on you, waiting for your response, wanting for this argument to continue. But you weren’t going to drag yourself into this mess. You just shrugged your shoulders, “If that’s what it takes.” The look that he gave you made guilt creep inside your stomach. It was like he could see right past your fake excuses, as if the girl who was there for him after the entire situation that happened three years ago had vanished. You were beginning to think she was.

\+ + +

Night had fallen when you opened your eyes again, surprised to see that you had fallen asleep again, but the quietness and the lull of the engine had made you take a small nap. You could hear Dean talking to his father on the phone while Sam still remained silent. Shifting around in your seat until you were sitting up again, you managed to catch the last part of their conversation.

“Yeah, Dad. Alright, got it.” Dean hung up his phone and looked over at his brother. “Pull off then next exit.” It seemed as a simple command, but the man still kept up the attitude.

“Why?”

“‘Cause Dad thinks we got a trail on the vampire's’ trail.”

"How?”

“I don’t know, he didn’t say.”

Suddenly that was the breaking point. The worst fear that you and Dean had been thinking about was beginning to come true.

You felt your nails dig into the leather when the sounds of the Impala’s engine roared to life from Sam pressing his foot on the gas petal. The car was zooming by at an accelerated rate. You kept thinking that he was trying to kill all of you, when another pair of headlights crossed your view when you realized the Impala was now in front, but just seconds later, you heard the engines squeal against the pavement before it swerved.

It took you another moment to realize Sam had stopped the car in the middle of the road causing his father to slam on his brakes before he hit the car in front of him. You opened your mouth to shout at him for pulling a dumb move, but when you watched as he opened up the driver’s side door and storm out, your face fell into panic. “Oh crap. Here we go.” Dean muttered underneath his breath. You looked over at him, not sure what to do.

“Sam! What the hell was that?” You heard John call out, exiting from his truck to scorn his son.

“We need to talk.” Sam simply said. You and Dean had exited the car by now to see both of them were standing next to one another. Here comes the big fight part two. And you were lucky enough to catch the next act.

“About what?” John questioned.

“About everything.” Sam spoke with a venomous tone. “Where are we going, Dad? What’s the big deal about this gun?”

Dean tried to step in, but it didn’t seem to work out like he had hoped. He stood in the middle of the men, trying to calm them both down. “Sam, come on. We can have a Q and A after we kill all the vampires.”

“Your brother’s right. We don’t have time for this.”John said. You knew that was just adding fuel to the fire. And all of this was just getting started. You crossed your arms over your chest, watching as the scene unfolded.

“Last time we saw you, you said it was too dangerous to be together. Now, out of the blue, you need our help.” Sam pointed out. “Obviously something big’s going down, and we want to know what!”

“Get back in the car.” John ordered.

“No.”

“I said get back in the damn car.” John tried again, his voice growing harder.

“Yeah,” Sam took a step forward and straighten out his posture. “And I said no.”

“All right, you made your point, tough guy.” Dean tried again. “Look, we’re all tired. We can talk about this later.” But his brother still wouldn’t move. So he pushed him towards the car. “Sammy, I mean it. Come on.”

You let out a sigh when you reached for the door handle when you watched as the brothers finally returned towards the car, but you immediately felt your fingernails dig into their skin when Sam still went on. “This is why I left in the first place.” Sam muttered underneath his breath, as if his father couldn’t hear, but you knew he did.

“What’d you say?” John questioned.

Sam turned around and stared at his father. “You heard me.”

“Yeah, you left.” John was taking his chance to bring up points to his son. You watched as he marched over towards the car. What they were saying kept making you feel awkward and yet pissed off with anger rising in your blood. “Your brother and me—we needed you. You walked away, Sam. You walked away!”

“You’re the one who said, “Don’t come back, Dad.” Sam argued back, you could see the anger and hurt rise in his eyes. Suddenly you were beginning to remember the tone of his voice when he called you up. How much vulnerability he had cracked down and showed you. And here you were just allowing him to be ganged up on. “You’re the one who closed that door, not me! You were just pissed off because you couldn’t control me anymore!”

You couldn’t take anymore. All the screaming and yelling, it was giving you a migraine. You ignored Dean’s small protests and tugs on your arm, but the adrenaline that was pumping through your veins demanded to be dealt with or else you were going to do something far more dangerous that you were going to regret. You were tired of it all.

“Stop it!” You screamed at the top of your lungs. “Stop it! Stop it!” You had trouble fighting off the two men that were clearly the twice the size as you, but you somehow managed. “That means you, too. For fuck’s sake,” You found yourself cursing underneath your breath. But you couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’ll be damned if I see the only family I have left become torn apart of some petty argument that happened three years ago.” You spat out at the both of them. “Let go of the past, because if you don’t, it will destroy you from the inside out. And I can’t stomach the idea of leaving all of you while you’re all acting like goddamn children—because I don’t know who’s gonna snap first and say something they’ll really regret.” 

And with that being said and done, you left the three men to standing the streets. Your head pounded in frustration with your heart was nearly skipping every other beat. from the corner of your eye you watched as Sam stomped towards the driver’s seat while John went back towards his truck. You ignored the youngest Winchester’s glares.

There you go stepping out of line, you could hear John say when he calmed down after the fight, always poking your nose in someone else’s business. Just like your mother. You always noticed how he would compare you to her when you acted out of line. Suddenly the thought was too much for you to handle. Your parents were gone. And now the only one you had left was almost broken and beyond repair. You bent your head down and tried your hardest not to cry, at least, until you were alone.

\+ + +

You were crouching down on your knees, your jeans becoming stained from the mud and grass, but you weren’t focused on that at the moment. Your attention was placed on the abandoned barn that was just across from the small patch of woods that as keeping all of you hidden away from the nest. A strange sight it was to see; these vampires weren’t quite what you were expecting, dressing a little less Vlad the Impaler and a bit more of a person who was too much into the punk scene with their clothes and rusty cars. And seeing them out and about like any other human made you feel weird, the realization still not sitting inside your mind that these were real monsters.

“Son of a bitch.” Dean muttered underneath. “So they’re really not afraid of the sun?”

“No, direct sunlight hurts like a nasty sunburn. The only way to kill them is by beheading.” John explained to the three of you. Well, that was a bit more gruesome that you thought, but you were up for the challenge. You opened up your mouth to ask something, but it seemed that he had knew what you were going to say. “And, yeah, they sleep during the day. It doesn’t mean they won’t wake up.”

“So I guess walking right in is not our best option.” Dean said, keeping his attention on the barn.

“Actually, that’s the plan.” John said. You weren’t sure if this was going to be a good choice of attack, but you reminded yourself that he had been doing this hunting longer than all of you. So, you bit your tongue and followed along, not quite in the mood to repeat last night’s events.

Before all of you could go marching into the nest, you needed the proper weapon to defend yourselves, just in case. You had to admit everything was a bit weird to see Dean and Sam prop up the hood of the car to examine their inventory while John had got himself a bit more organized. Boys and their toys, you couldn’t help yourself but think.

“Dad I got an extra machete if you need one.” Dean said, holding up the long knife. You reached to grab it when you saw that he had his own, but he jerked it away. You gave him a glare, suddenly aggravated for how he was acting so protective of you, like you couldn’t handle a bunch of vampires. You had handled more ferocious monsters. A few bloodsuckers didn’t seem like a problem, but he wasn’t in the mood to argue with you. You crossed your arms over your chest and rolled your eyes. 

“Think I’m okay. Thanks.” John said, taking out his own machete. You looked over your shoulder to see that his was rather more impressive looking; a steel blade and a black handle that looked like it could be handled well under pressure.

“Wow.” You heard Dean mumble to himself, impressed with his father’s choice of weapon. You could see him becoming slightly inferior with his own compared towards what he was holding, but the brothers snapped themselves out of it and continued to get ready in silence.

A few seconds had passed without anyone saying much of anything. You had found your nail bits more of an interesting way to pass the time since it looked like you weren’t going to be part taking in this hunt. But your attention was drawn back up when you heard John speak up about the beloved gun that had brought all of you here today. It wouldn’t hurt to see what made this particular one so special to the man.

“So, you kids really want to know about this colt?” John asked the three of you, breaking the silence that had fallen over. You and the boys looked at one another for a few moments before Sam spoke up, surprisingly, in a pleasant tone.

“Yes, sir.”

“It’s just a story, a legend really. Well, I thought it was. Never really believed it until I read Daniel’s letter. ” John began, all of you headed over to let him continue. “Back in 1835, when Halley’s comet was overhead, the same night those men died at the Alamo, they say Sam Colt made a gun, a special gun. He made it for a hunter—a man like us, only on horseback.

The story goes he made thirteen bullets. This hunter used the gun half a dozen times. Before he disappeared, the gun along with him. Somehow, Daniel got his hands on it. They say—They say this gun can kill anything.”

“Kill anything, like supernatural anything?” You couldn’t help yourself but ask, an eyebrow arched up.

“Like the demon.” Sam said, figuring out what John wanted it for.

“Yeah, the demon.” John repeated, nodding his head. “Ever since I picked up its trail, I’ve been looking for a way to destroy that thing. Find the gun…we may have it.”

\+ + +

Your lips pouted in annoyance as you crossed your arms over your chest, feeling more like a child that was scolded to sit and be quiet while the grownups important business matters. You kept going on about how you could handle yourself in there. But being how they were, you couldn’t give another word into the conversation before they were reminding you that there could be no mistakes with so much at stake. You watched as the three men wandered out of the woods, leaving you alone to keep you out of trouble, or John’s way of controlling the situation and making sure you didn’t screw things up. You let out a scoff at the idea and pulled yourself up towards the trunk of the Impala, letting your feet hang off the edge.

Part of you knew this was the right thing to do, let them take control of the situation and do their jobs like they were trained to do. After all, they had more experience than you had. A year wasn’t much time to learn how to defend yourself. But it would be a lie if you weren’t feeling helpless when it came to this situation. All of you wanted to do was help in some sort of way. Why was it so hard to get that through their father’s thick skull?

Every time you had talked to the man or seen him in the rare moments, he always looked at you like a little child, like you were still some frightened little sixteen year old. You were waiting for the right moment to shed that image and show him how much a year had changed for you. There was no denying you had changed. You were smarter from when you first started, stronger and less scared when it came to getting yourself down and dirty. Maybe having your life constantly on the line and the time that you almost died can change someone.

Silence had engulfed the thoughts after a while of waiting for the men to return, the time seemed to have been drawing out longer each time you looked down at your watch. The sounds of birds chirping and gentle rustling of dying leaves on the trees made you realize that fall was coming back again. You looked down at your shoes for a few seconds, that was, until your head immediately shot back up when you heard the sounds of footsteps crunching underneath dead leaves. They were coming towards you, and at a fast rate. Your body froze up with the fear of some unwanted guests, but to your surprise, it was just Sam and Dean.

But soon your emotions were becoming clouded with worry when you saw their state was nothing more than panicked. They looked around the woods, calling out their father’s name, but you couldn’t see the man anywhere around. You were beginning to grow to fear the worst, wondering if something had happened to him. The brothers kept calling out a handful of times with a small pause in between to hear if he was coming.

Your nails dug themselves into your palm when you found yourself dwelling on bad thoughts, but they were stopped when you started to hear the familiar sounds of footsteps running towards you. It was just another few moments before you saw his face reappear in the break of trees. A sigh of relief escaped your lips when you watched as he headed back towards the three of you. Just as all of you turned around to head to get the hell out of here, John stopped you.

“They won’t follow. They’ll wait till tonight.” He explained to all of you, but adding another fact that didn’t sit well in all of you. “Once a vampire gets your scent, it’s for life.”

“What do we do now?” Dean asked.

“You got to find the nearest funeral home.” John said. You were a bit taken back at his plan, not sure what you needed from a dead body. Little did you realize that’s where the vampire's’ weakness was lying and the key step towards getting the gun to end this nightmare once and for all. And you were getting yourself involved this time, no matter what they said.

\+ + +

“Gross. This is so gross.” 

Holding a mason jar full of a crimson substance, your nose scrunched up in disgust. You and Dean had just finished up the job at the funeral home, somehow managing to sweet talk your way and picking a few locks in order to get your hands on some dead man’s blood. John told you little to nothing about why you needed this. Something about how this blood was more lethal to vampires, you caught yourself not paying much attention, still grossed out with this task that he was allowing you to tag along.

Dean couldn’t help himself but let out a chuckle at your behavior. You stuck the jar back into the paper bag and placed it in the middle between you and him. Both of you were quiet for few moments, the silence keeping away any sort of conversation. After a while, you began to think of something about this plan. If you could convince Dean to allow you to help out, he could easily persuade the other two, who hopefully were acting civil towards one another. You watched as a tree passed you again before you got the courage to speak up again.

“So, I was thinking.” You began, drawing patterns in the leather seats. You saw that Dean looked down at you, waiting to see what you were going to say next. Sucking in a small breath, you had hoped you could get this out before he stopped you in mid-sentence. “Maybe I could play a small role in this hunt tonight. You know how John said that once a vampire catches your scent, they can recognize you instantly. Don’t you think that they’ll know it’s a trap if they see one of you?”

Dean averted his attention away from the road for a few moments. He opened his mouth to say something, but when he caught on to what you were hinting at, it didn’t take him long to shoot your idea down. “No. Don’t even think about it, Y/N.” You rolled your eyes at his behavior, knowing he was going to say something like that. But you couldn’t help yourself but to try again.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” You questioned. He glared at you. Death. They end up deciding to use you as a human feeding bag. You end up turning into them. You let out a sigh, okay so, maybe that wasn’t the right angle. “It’s not like I’m going to be alone. You guys won’t be far behind anyway just in case something does happen. Besides, it’s not like I haven’t faced some creepy monster before and came out dead.”

Another moment of silence fell between the both of you. But a smile spread across your lips when you heard him let out a sharp breath of annoyance, knowing that you had him cornered. He rolled his eyes at your enthusiasm, bringing up a point that you didn’t forget about. “I’ll talk to the old man about it. But don’t hold your breath if he says no.”

“I know. I know.” You mumbled, trying your hardest to keep another smile forming on your lips. Well, it seemed your moment to shine was going to be coming quicker than you thought. You crossed your fingers in hope that John would say yes, just to something to get you apart of this case.

Both of you arrived back at the motel just a few minutes later. You trailed behind, a sudden nervousness began to flutter inside your stomach when you watch the door come into view. Dean opened up the door and allowed you inside first before he followed and closed it behind you rather quietly. You turned your head to see a sight you weren’t expecting; Sam and John were sitting at the table with matching smiles. They were laughing just a few moments before you and Dean had stepped inside. You couldn’t help yourself but think that it was an improvement from last night. The both of them must have talked it out and settled their little fight once and for all. You and Dean headed over towards the table when both of them settled down.

“Did you get it?” John asked the both of you. Dean reached inside his jacket and pulled out the paper bag before handing it over to his father. He observed it for a few seconds before speaking up again towards the brothers. “You know what do.”

You looked over at Dean, knowing this was his time to pipe up about your idea, but when he remained quiet, obviously not wanting to question what his father had planned. But you couldn’t help yourself but blurt out what you had told the oldest brother in the car. “I wanna help out.” You said in one breath. All pair of eyes were on you now, obviously not expecting this from you. “I mean, not standing on the sidelines while you guys do your jobs. I mean I want part of the action.”

You watched as John opened his mouth, obviously not happy with what you were saying. But you stopped him again. “And don’t tell me I can’t handle a bunch of little vampires. Do I have to remind you I’ve got a demon on my ass who wants to kill me and I nearly got clawed to death the last time we saw you.” You argued. “Hell, I’ve saved your sons from being killed a handful of times. I can do this.”

A silence fell between all of you when you finally finished ranting. You were beginning to think that he was going to give you a lecture and leave you here. But when he opened his mouth to speak up again, you were quite surprised to hear what he had to say. “Your mother would have killed me for what I am about to say but,” There was a small pause before you felt your lips stretch into a smile. “Fine. But if this goes anywhere near south, you are to get yourself to safety as quick as you can. Do you understand?”

You nodded your head, resisting the urge to smile again. “Yes, sir.”

\+ + +

You leaned yourself over the hood of the Impala; you were alone in the middle of the road with the hood popped up to see what was wrong. All of this was part of the plan to get your little friends out from the woodwork. Everyone loved a dumb girl with a broken down car, it was the perfect bait. You busied yourself with pretending to not know what you were doing for a few minutes, touching all sorts of engine parts parts. It was only a matter of time before you heard the sounds of footsteps approaching you from behind and a female voice speaking up.

“Car trouble?” You turned around to see a woman that was just a bit taller than you, sizing you up and down like you could be her next meal. You bit the inside of your cheek, not a good thought to tell yourself. “Let me give you a lift. Take you back to my place.”

“I’ll pass.” You said, shrugging off her attempts to be helpful when you knew it was just an excuse for you to become dinner. A sarcastic comment came rolling out of your mouth before you could stop it. “I usually draw the line at necrophilia.”

The woman pretended to be hurt at your insult, she puckered out her lips and frowned before deciding to take control of the situation. The back of her hand come up and slap you right across the cheek with enough force to knock down to the ground. A groan of pain escaped your lips from the force, trying your hardest to brush off the pain, but it was just a matter of moments before her partner came strolling in with a grin that you wanted to smack off yourself.

Before you could make another insult, she was bending down and clawing her french tip nails into the sides of your face. Her fingers wrapped around your face with enough force to make your lips become pouted and making breathing a lot harder. She lifted you up from the ground with no trouble, a smirk spread across her face when she had you cornered. But you continued to taunt her, knowing that you weren’t in any real danger.

“I normally don’t get this friendly till the second date.” You said, speaking between breaths that were beginning to become harder. You dug your nails into her wrist, hoping she would let go of you, but she didn’t seem fazed the pain you were inflicting on her.

“You know, we could have some fun. I always like to make new friends.” And without a warning, her lips were on yours. Of course, all your time on being this trip, and you were getting your action from a goddamn vampire. You let out a breath when he finally broke away after a few moments. You gave her a small smile when her lips drew back towards another smirk.

“Oh, sorry. I never stay with someone that long.” You managed to speak again. “Definitely not eternity.”

A groan of pain echoed inside your ears when you realized that the arrow was shot through the man’s chest. Your backside roughly hit the front of the car when the woman was next. She looked down to see the tip was sticking through her chest. She rolled her eyes, suddenly realizing what was happening. “Damn it.” She muttered underneath her breath. Looking over her shoulder, she caught sight of the family that had seen before. “Barely even stings.” She remarked to John, as if this was nothing.

“Give it time, sweetheart.” John said as he headed up to her. “That arrow’s soaked in dead man’s blood. It’s like poison to you, isn’t it?” He asked, resting the crossbow rest on his shoulder. She gave him a glare, but it was just seconds until she was dropping backwards and straight into Dean’s awaiting arms. “Load her up. I’ll take care of this one.”

You followed behind Dean when he started walking towards the part of woods where the net part of the plan would begin. Sam lingered over the other vampire for a few seconds, not sure if he wanted to leave his father alone. But John nodded for him to continue on. You heard another pair of footsteps trail behind, you turned your head to see Sam was now walking next to you. In the silence that had fallen over you, you could hear the sounds of the vampire’s head hitting the pavement.

One down. Only seven more to go.

\+ + + 

Moving around your jaw again, you could feel the small indents from the woman’s nails from where she had grabbed you, but she was now out of harm’s way for the moment. You kept yourself out of the way while Dean and John were gathering supplies to keep any more of her kind to come looking for all of you. While you watched the fire burn away, you couldn’t help but feel a pair of eyes lingering on your face. You turned your head to see that Sam was now standing next to you, but more like hovering from his height compared to yours. You dropped your hand towards your side when you realized what his attention was focused on.

“I’m fine, Sammy.“ You spoke up for the first time to him since the big fight. "It’s not like I haven’t been attacked before. And besides, her little love taps would be nothing if I got my hands on her.”

It feels good to hear him laugh again at your horrible sense of humor, you feel your lips stretch into a smile, knowing the awkward tension between the both of you was finally gone. The attention slowly went back towards the hunt when you heard John speak up again to Dean, you looked over your shoulder at the two to see what the older man had planned for the rest of this surprise attack.

“Toss this into the fire. Saffron, skunks, cabbage and trillium—it’ll block out our scents and hers until we’re ready.” John said, heading towards you and Sam while Dean headed towards the fire.

“Stuff stinks.” You mumbled with your hand pressing against your nose when you accidentally caught a whiff of the contents.

“Well, that’s the idea.” John explained to you. “Dust your clothes with the ashes and you’ll stand a chance of not being detected.” Your nose scrunched up with his order to you, but you headed up towards Dean, knowing it was better to smell like roadkill then become one.

“You sure they’ll come after her?” Sam asked his father, glancing at the woman again.

“Yeah. Vampires mate for life. She means more to the leader than the gun.” John said. “But the blood sickness is gonna wear off soon, so you don’t have a lot of time. Half-hour ought to do it. And I want you out of the area as fast as you can.” You dusted your hands off after approaching the family back again, but the plan that John had mind wasn’t what all of you were expecting.

“But—" Sam started to protest, but Dean cut him off before he could continue. Both of the brothers weren’t happy at the news. “You can’t take care of them all yourself.”

“I’ll have her and the colt.” John tried to justify his actions to all of you.

“But after,we’re gonna meet up, right? Use the gun together, right?” Sam questioned with some hope in his voice. But it got harder when he watched as his father’s face dropped. “You’re leaving again, aren’t you? You still want to go after this demon alone?” But it seemed that all he was getting as an answer was silence. Sam shook his head. “You know, I don’t get you. You can’t treat us like this.”

“Like what?” John asked.

“Like children.” Sam answered.

“You are my children.” John continued. “I’m trying to keep you safe.”

“Dad, all do respect, but that’s a bunch of crap.” Dean spoke up against his father. All eyes averted towards him, surprised to see the oldest son was finally standing up for this suicide plan. A small smug tugged at the ends of your lips, happy that he finally was getting the courage to speak up to the man.

“Excuse me?” John questioned, giving his son a look.

“You know I’ve been hunting with the boys for a while now.” You found your speaking up. “Hell, you’ve even set us on a few trip yourself. You can’t be that worried about keeping us safe.”

“It’s not the same, Y/N.” He said, you shook your head.

“Then what is it?” You snapped at the man. “Why do you want us out of the big fight?”

John let out a breath, he took a small pause before speaking up again. “This demon, it’s a bad son of a bitch. I can’t make the same moves if I’m worried about keeping you alive.”

“You can’t be as reckless.” You corrected him, knowing that is what he was getting at.

“Look,” John began, you clenched your jaw when he continued talking. “I don’t expect to make it out of this fight in one piece. Your mother’s death…it almost killed me. And finding out what happened to Y/N’s parents. I can’t watch my children die, too. I won’t.“

"What happens if you die? Dad, what happens if you die and we could have done something about it?” Dean questioned his father. But the man remained silent. “You know, I’ve been thinking. I think maybe Sammy’s right about this one. I think we should do this together. We’re stronger as a family, Dad. We just are. You know it.”

“We’re running out of time.” John brushed it all off, as if nothing what the boys or you had said mattered. It was better to ignore everything and continue on. “You do your job, and you get out of the area. That’s an order.”

\+ + +

You couldn’t help but feel angry. All the hard work that you and the boys had put yourselves through the past year and this is where you ended up. But with the emotions running through your veins and a nest that still needed to be killed, you decided to channel the anger into getting this hunt done. The machete felt rather heavy in your hands as you sneaked into the barn, and quieter than you thought it would be. But there was no denying this place was a mess. With empty beer bottles spread across the floors and scraps of bloody clothes. You knew John wasn’t joking when these people could drink someone from underneath the table.

 

Spotting a man lying on a hammock, you hid yourself before you could make an attack. Dean was in charge of getting out the rest of the hostages while you and Sam finished off the rest of the vampires. You heard squeaking sounds echoed throughout the barn that happened to be coming from the front. You peeked your head out slightly to watch as the man pushed himself off the makeshift bed and head towards the sounds, a liquor bottle close to his side. When he lingered around for a few moments at the closed doors, you took your chance.

A swing of the bottle went up towards the vampire’s mouth before he turned around to face you. The look on his face was nothing more than a surprise, a smirk spread across your lips. “Boo.” You taunted at the man, all before you swung the knife up. With as much as force as you could muster up, you felt the blade go right into his skin before you heard the familiar sounds of his head dropping towards the ground. You stared down at the mess, surprised at what you just did. You just killed someone for the first time in your life, and boy, did it feel…good.

You and Sam checked every other place to see if there was anyone else hiding out for you to get while Dean managed to get everyone else free. When you realized the one only person who had been keeping down the front was bleeding on the ground, another thought crossed your mind. It seemed that these bloodsuckers were one step ahead of all of you. There was little time to waste before the fear that crosses your mind came true.

\+ + +

“Son of a bitch.”

You and the brothers had a feeling that these vampires weren’t too happy with handing over the one thing that all of you wanted while keeping one of their own has hostage. At least a handful of them were spread across the place, making John outnumbered, leaving none of you thinking that his outcome would come out okay. While you and the boys lingered in the woods watching as the scene unfolded, you were thinking of a plan to make the outcome in your favor. You heard the brothers whisper about a possible plan of attack, you snapped your fingers when it came to you. Thank you past self for not sleeping during the lecture in history class.

“Guerrilla warfare.” You blurted out. The brothers turned their heads to look at you with matching faces of confusion, you rolled your eyes, surprised that one of them caught what you were hinting at. “Come on, one of you has to know what I’m talking about.”

“We don’t have time to play jeopardy, Y/N.” Dean mumbled to you.

“Ambush them, you idiots. We have something they don’t—the element of surprise.” You said to them. “Now, since you girls can’t come up with a decent plan, this is what we’re gonna do…”

Surprisingly, your plan seemed to have been going better than you thought it would be. The boys grabbed the crossbow and dead man’s blood, at least you could take down a few of them before making your attack. Dean soaked the blood like his father had did before and waited for the right moment to make the move. You felt your legs beginning to ache from crouching down for a long period of time, but you shifted your attention back towards the action that was happening just beyond. Your grip seemed to tighten on the machete when you watched as the simple trade off went south.

In just a blink of an eye, John went from crouching down to get the colt to being thrown across the road from the impact the woman made after throwing a punch towards his stomach. But it seems they weren’t done with him yet. The leader of the group took a few steps forward before bending down and throwing John hard enough so he went flying into the truck’s door. Give them a false sense of hope they had the upper hand then go in for the kill.

You looked over to Dean and nodded your head, giving him the signal to shoot. He pulled the trigger and you watched as the arrow went straight into the woman’s chest, causing panic to arise in the vampires. Now it was time to make your move.

All of you came running out of the woodwork; you ran as fast as you could towards the person that was closest to you while Dean shot down another vampire that was running over to attack Sam, leaving the opportunity to make your move. Maybe you should have aim your sights a little lower by not attacking the leader, but he was the closest one to you. You had swung up your machete to take off his head, but he was quicker than you.

The next thing that came out of your mouth was a gasp of pain when you felt your backside hit the pavement after he had caught you off guard. You could hear the clanking of the blade fall just a few feet from where you were. And just when you opened your eyes after composing yourself from the sharp ache that was coming from your backside, it seemed he was getting ready to go another round with you.

You tried your hardest to fight him off when you felt him grip your shirt that he used to pull you up from the ground, but it was like trying to move bolted down steel. The next thing you knew your breathing was being cut off when the crook of his arm was pressing itself against your neck. You dug your fingernails into his leather jacket and continued to get yourself free, but it wouldn’t work. A panic feeling began to creep inside your stomach when you saw that your plan had failed. Sam and Dean had rushed over in the midst of the struggle, but it was too late.

“Don’t! I’ll break her neck.” He threatened to them. “Put the blade down.”

And if that wasn’t enough, your lungs were beginning to feel like they were going to shrivel up at any second with the pain that was being forced upon your neck. You were clawing at his skin until you could feel your nails break the skin, your vision was becoming blurry from the lack of oxygen. Finally after a long pause you could hear the sounds of metal clanking against the ground before the man let go of you just enough so you could take in a small breath before losing consciousness, but he still didn’t let you go.

“You people. Why can’t you leave us alone?” He hissed out. “We have as much as a right to live as you do.”

"Oh, please.” You managed to speak up. While the vampire had been ranting away, you could see from the corner of your eye that John was okay, and he was making his way for the gun. If you could somehow distract this creep and get out of the way, maybe all of you had a chance to get out of this alive.

You kept your composure when you felt your body being roughly yanked around until you were facing him with your hands pinned in one of his own, just in case you were to try and do anything stupid. “What did you say to me?” He asked in a tone that only you could hear. Well, here goes nothing. You just hoped your second plan of action wasn’t going to backfire in your face and leave all of you dead.

“You kidnap innocent people and drain them of their blood. In my opinion, that makes you a monster that deserves to die. Nice and slow.” You spat out at him. “Kind like what you did to Danny, remember him? The man that you had murdered?”

It seemed that your empty threats weren’t facing the man when he had a few of his own. And he was going to make sure they came true. A smirk spread across his lips, “You know, with a tongue like yours, it would be fun to have a girl like you around. Definitely would make things fun.” You couldn’t help yourself out let out a sarcastic smile at his offer. But it dropped when everything happened so quickly before you could stop it.

The next thing that you saw was flash of those jagged teeth of his come into sight. You watched as he brang up his free wrist and dug his teeth into the skin. With the open wound now bleeding, you tried to wiggle away again, but it was too late. He placed it inside your mouth before you had a chance to get it away, accidentally tasting the rusty liquid that filled your mouth. You stopped yourself from swallowing it, knowing that if you did, the worst scenario would happen.

When he smiled at you again, you felt your stomach drop in fear. “There we go. I’ll show you what a monster you are after you’re draining your little friends dry.” He whispered, grabbing your chin so you were looking at him. Your blood lips stretched into a smirk when you caught sight of John. Now you had the monster cornered.

“I don’t think so.”

With all your might, you spat the blood right out from your mouth and onto his face, catching him off guard from the plan of action. You felt your body drop against the ground when he reached up a hand to wipe away the blood. But it was too late. Just seconds later you heard the sound of the colt going off—a bullet went straight into the vampire’s forehead. You quickly scrambled backwards before grabbing a hold of an arm that dangled in your face that soon yanked you behind someone’s chest. You watched as everything happened in slow motion. Whatever doubts that had been circling around this gun, they were proven to be wrong at this moment.

The man just stood there for a few seconds with wide eyes, you didn’t know what you were expecting to happen. The man dropped towards his knees and fell towards the ground, still trying to fight off what was happening to him. You could hear the woman shout out his name in fear, as if they would be enough for him to get back up and fight. But just a few seconds later, you watched as his body dropped toward the ground. A shaky breath escaped your lips when you saw that his body wasn’t moving anymore.

You still weren’t sure what was going on. But you knew you had a pissed off lover when the woman started to charge forward at John, but her friend tried to calm her down. “Kate, don’t!” She yelled, dragging her backwards. It seemed like forever with her and John a death glare, but when she realized that he still had the colt, she backed down. You watched as the two women boarded up in their car before getting themselves out before they ended up like their leader.

\+ + +

Brush. Rinse. Mouthwash. Repeat.

You leaned yourself over the sink, your wet toothbrush hanging off the edge. You took another swig of mouthwash and began to swoosh the minty liquid around your mouth again, ignoring the burning sensation that was making your mouth go numb. You needed to make sure that it was all gone, you needed to feel clean again.So why was it so damn hard? You reached for your toothbrush again, but a hand stopped you.

A small gasp escaped your mouth from the surprise visitor. It took you even more off guard when you saw that it was John himself. You tried to ignore his presence, knowing that he was only here to scorn you for what you had done back there. You grabbed your toothbrush and bottle of toothpaste so you could scrub your mouth one more time.

“If you keep doing that you’re gonna have no teeth left. You’ll be fine.” John spoke up first. You stopped yourself in your actions for a few seconds, knowing that he was right, maybe you were just a tad overreacting at this situation.

You turned on the faucet and ran the tip of the brush over the water, letting the toothpaste fall into the sink. You looked over your shoulder when you realized that the man was still keeping quiet. “Are you here to lecture me?” You questioned, busying yourself by gathering up your toiletries. “Let me save you the trouble. ‘Y/N you put all of us in danger with your reckless behavior. You should know better.’ Come on, join in, I’m starting to run out of things to yell at myself for.” 

What came out his mouth wasn’t what you were expecting, he was chuckling? You furrowed your eyebrows at him. “What’s so funny?” You asked him, your tone of voice harder than you expected.

“You remind me so much of your mother. You’ve got her tongue and need for control.” John said. You dropped your gaze towards the ground, not sure if that was coming as an insult or compliment. So he continued to elaborate. “But you’ve clearly proven that you have her brains and quick wit. You did good back there. Ella would be proud.”

You couldn’t help yourself but smile at what he had said to you. It did make you feel good, and it was a hell of an improvement from what you and him had said to one another months ago. But a question scratched at you, needing an answer when you had the moment away from everyone else. “Why won’t you let us help?” You asked him. “I want this damn demon dead as you do. And it’s not like we can’t handle ourselves. I clearly can handle myself—”

“Y/N, you don’t get it.” John cut you off. “If you knew what was at stake here. You would know that it would be best if you just stay in the sidelines.”

You clenched your jaw in anger. “You don’t get it. I wanna help.”

“I know you do. But I can’t see you get hurt again. I promised her I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” John said. You stared at him, not sure what he was getting at. He exhaled loudly through his nose, knowing there was no way around this one. “Right before you and your mother moved, she started acting strange. We got into a fight about something, I don’t know what it was about, all I knew was that she was talking nonsense, going on about not feeling safe. All I remember was she asked me something.”

”What?” You asked, your tone was barely louder than a whisper.

“She asked me to look after you if something happened to her.” He admitted. “That’s why I’m so much harder on you than the boys. I can’t break your mother’s promise. But you will be apart of this fight, I promise, just not in the way that you want.”

You nodded your head, letting your attention slowly slip back to gathering up your belongings. When you watched as he went to turn around and head back to the room, you found yourself blurting out the fear that had been on your mind once all of this ended. “I accidentally swallowed some of his blood.” You watched as John’s body stiffen from what you had said. “I mean, it wasn’t a lot or anything, like a drop. Do you think?”

“No, you’ll be fine, Y/N.” He said, smiling ever so slightly at your panic. You let out a sigh of relief and leaned yourself against the bathroom sink. “Now go get your stuff together.”

You headed out of the bathroom again to see that eh brothers were still packing up. You busied yourself with heading over towards your duffel bag and threw in the remaining belongings inside your bag. But your attention was drawn upwards when John spoke to all of you.

“So, boys…” John began, the brothers stopped what they were doing and faced the man. A small smirk spread across your lips. Here comes their turn.

“Yes, sir?” Sam spoke up.

“You ignored a direct order back there.” John said, shoving his hands inside his pants pocket. You were surprised to see the brothers responded with different responses.

“Yes, sir.”

“But we saved your ass.”

Your attention shifted towards Dean, surprised to see that he was still speaking up for himself against his father. And John’s response took all of you a bit back. “You’re right.”

“I am?” Dean asked, not sure if he heard his father correctly.

“It scares the hell out of me. You three are all I’ve got.” He admitted to all of you. “But I guess we are stronger as a family. So we go after the damn thing…together.”

“Yes, sir.” You heard both of the boys say at the same time. You crossed your arms over your chest and let a smile grew across your lips. At that moment in time, you really thought that this could be ended once and for all. You really did.

Oh, what an idiot you were.


	20. Salvation.

How long has it been since you’ve had a decent night’s sleep? It seems selfish of you to be doing this, but you need to feel important enough to stay with them, even if it means you’re ready to snap at someone from a simple look that you might take the wrong way from your state of mind. You’ve been doing an all nighter while the brothers slept after the long drive to a new state, Colorado to be exact, where their father had been keeping all his work hidden away.

Speaking of the man, he was around here somewhere, perhaps in his own room, you lost contact with him after midnight when the boys passed out again. Both of you talked for a while, ending the conversation with a promise to go to sleep and try to recuperate, knowing all of you were going to have a long journey ahead of you. Hours later, here you were on your third cup of coffee this morning. Guess old habits die hard.

Shuffling of papers and soft snoring was all that could be heard through the room; you sat at the table with everything that John had covered through the past year during his disappearance and your mother’s journal hidden away in the corner, peeking glances from time to time, or when you felt the coast was clear. You still weren’t ready to show everyone what you found. It was the only real thing that you had of her that linked back toward her past of hunting that she kept from you. It was like a priceless artifact, you wanted it all to yourself.

You had mostly caught yourself up with what information that John had found; patterns, victims, places where it struck down. He tracked this demon like an animal that was studying its prey from a distance to find its weak spot. This man was determined to get the revenge that has been on his mind for over twenty years. Everyone that he cared and loved for was dead because of this monster, threatening to take two more if you were correct. Suddenly you were beginning to see more clearly of the obsession that took over his life, why he needed to leave everyone behind. Why the man was so hard on Sam.

“Y/N?”

Your eyes snap up from the paper to see the man himself sitting up in bed, a small smile spread across your lips when you caught sight of his ruffled bed head and drooping eyelids. He kind of looked like a child, still in a daze from his slumber. This was the first time in awhile that these boys could sleep with a bit more ease on their mind. And in just a short amount of time, everything would go back to normal, like you knew how it should be. Sam would be back at college studying to be a lawyer. Dean and John back at hunting like a team. And you back at home. Your nails dig themselves into the wood from the thought.

“Go back to bed.” You whisper, making sure not to wake up the other sleeping brother that hasn’t moved since three in the morning. The sun is now peaking through the clouds that pass by every so often. “I’m sure your dad will be in here soon enough to wake you and Dean.”

But he didn’t listen to you. Sam shifts around in bed until he’s now sitting up. You drop your eyes back towards the paper you were previously reading when he decides to get up. Just as you finish reading something and reach for another, you stop yourself again when you feel a pair of eyes on you. Looking back up, you see that Sam is observing you, like something about you is off. You furrow your eyebrows at him, opening your mouth to question why he’s staring at you, but he speaks up first.

“How are you?”

“….Fine.”

You try to leave the conversation at that, not sure if he’s trying to make small talk or get something out of you, neither in which you are in the mood for. A minute passes by when you finish reading a page of notes, just as you reach for another stack of papers, they’re ripped out from underneath you. An annoyed sigh escapes your lips when you see Sam is now hovering over you like a concerned parent. He can see the dark circles that have been forming from the nonexistent sleep this past week. You know it’s coming, the dreaded question that was going to be ask at the fragile little girl. You feel sixteen again, vulnerable and scared, their eyes that were filled with sadness just staring at you—

Quickly, you reach up and try to grab the papers before he could read them. They were his birth certificate and Mary’s death. Both dates are underlined with at least three question marks around them. If he somehow makes the connection, you knew that the guilt would break him without the support to realize that none of this was his fault.

But Sam is quick to catch on to what you’re trying to do. He put his arm higher into the air so you can’t reach it. Damn that idiot. You let out a breath of annoyance and plop back down into your chair, knowing there is no way you’re going to win.

“Have you even slept? You look awful.” Sam remarks. He takes notice of your disheveled hair from running your fingers through it to keep it from falling in your face, the same clothes you’ve been wearing for the second day now,and those hideous dark circles that seem to be getting worse with each passing hour.

“Nope. Been up all night.” You answer, reaching for your now cold cup of coffee. Gesturing your arm over the stacks of paper and books, you speak up again after taking a sip. “Your dad said I could look over his notes. I guess I got carried away.”

“Why don’t you take a nap or something? I’m sure with everything going on—”

“I’m fine, Sam.” You accidentally snap at him, your voice rising enough for the other brother to wake up to see what the commotion was about. Ignoring their concerned looks, you divert your attention towards the papers, shuffling them around until they’re back in a decent pile You make sure to grab the journal after you stand up. “Your dad wants to go over what he found later. I’m gonna go take a shower and wake up. I suggest you both do the same.”

And with that, you head out of the motel and back towards your own room. You make sure to lock the door behind you and place the journal back on the desk before heading to your duffel bag that was still in the same position on the bed, where you had left it the previous night after checking in. You waste no time and getting yourself ready for the day, knowing this one was going to be a particularly long one. You try and prepare yourself for the mental wounds from the past to open up again for everyone. This was going to be tougher than you thought, you just worry about how the brothers are going to take the news from what you learned about their mother’s death that no one seen coming.

\+ + +

Hours and hours of pushing, pain and screaming all seemed to be worth it when they saw the small bundle wiggling around in the hospital’s bassinet. Ella laid in bed with her hair matted down to her forehead, all strength that she had seemed to have had suddenly was sucked out right from her body when she looked at the baby. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and take some time to sleep. But when she heard the sounds of her husband cooing at their daughter, she couldn’t help herself but stay up a little longer, enjoying the peacefulness of everything.

A smile crept across her lips when she seen that Andrew was practically glowing with joy. He had always wanted a child, someone he could raise and teach them the joys of things. How to find the silver lining in everything and hope for the best when things look bleak. All the man wanted to do was show her everything what the world had to offer, he had admitted to his wife during one of their long talks. She remembers now, lying in bed with his hand tracing patterns on her swollen stomach, he went on about wanting to teach their child everything good. In a way, teach her how to live a life that she shouldn’t fear everything or regret her decisions. Ella subtly hinted that she wanted the same.

“It’s okay, don’t worry, Daddy’s got you.” Andrew tried to calm his daughter when she began to whimper, not liking the sudden movement when she got comfortable. He cradled her in his arms and softly rocked her back and forth, another smile spread across his lips when he looked up at his wife. “I think she likes me. She’s a keeper.”

Ella couldn't help herself but roll her eyes. “She better be. I didn't spend the last sixteen hours pushing the little bugger out for nothing.” She joked, watching as her daughter closed her eyes again, becoming used to the rocking movement. “Y/N, you’re not even a day old and you have your Daddy wrapped around your finger.”

The new parents enjoy the small silence that falls underneath them for the next few minutes before they hear someone softly knocking on the door. It opens up to reveal a smiling nurse, she quietly walks inside, trying her hardest not to wake up the sleeping newborn. “I have a few visitors that would like to see you. Is that alright if I send them in, or is it too early?” She asks, her fingers wrapped together, politely waiting for the new parents to answer.

Andrew looks over at his wife, not sure if she’s up to see the family, but she wastes no time and nods her head. “Sure. I’m sure they’re eager to meet her. I can rest later.” Ella says.

The nurse mumbles an okay before turning back around and ushers the three members into the hospital room, matching smiles grew across the parent's’ faces while their son wanders in first, still not sure what the fuss was about. Mumbles of congratulations and coos are repeated again when they catch sight of the small infant that is wrapped in layers of blankets. The baby blinks a few times before opening her eyes again, wondering what the commotion was about, still too young to realize that it’s all for her.

Andrew walks over and hands his wife the child, giving everyone a bit of a better view. A sense of pride begins to blossom in his chest when he sees the parents look at her with joy. The realization that he had made another human finally settles in, all the good that was left inside of him was wrapped in the small baby that his wife was propping up slightly so she could show their good friend Mary. It made a small smile spread across his face. Maybe this really was his second chance at a real life was possible, after all.

“She’s so beautiful.” Mary says to the new mother. She looks up from the baby to her husband, nodding her head to bring their son over to the bed. “Honey, want to meet your new friend?”

Dean eagerly nods his head, everyone laughs while John scoops up his son and carries him over to the bed before placing him on the bed after Ella patted for him to take a spot. The boy looks at the small, red faced thing that just stares at him, still not sure what’s going on. His parents are over the moon about this baby that doesn't seem to do much. But when she begins to whimper and fuss, he tries to think of what to do when he’s upset. He leans over and softly places a kiss on her forehead and mumbles something incoherent, sort of sounding like “It’s okay.” The parents break out into another grin and the laughter continues from the small act of kindness.

“You know, I think Dean might need another sibling one day. He seems perfect older brother material.” Ella jokes. Mary couldn't help herself but smile at her husband, John shook his head, saying that it was too soon to be thinking about adding another.

“Come on, John.” Andrew joins in, patting the man on the shoulder. “We weren't planning on having kids and look what happened a year later? You never know.”

“You never know.” Mary repeated, smirking at her husband. “We have been talking about having another child. And seeing Y/N, she just makes me want to try. I guess we’ll just see what happens.”

Two years later after everything seemed to be going quiet with both families falling into a routine for caring towards their small families, the Winchesters added another bundle of joy into their lives, Sam. While they thought it was the missing piece they had been searching for, all it did was create a false sense of hope that everyone could live a peaceful life.

Well, you know how the story goes from here.

\+ + + 

You’re in nothing but awe at the amount of information that John had collected. Walls are plastered with maps, newspaper articles and all sorts of different things that are connected towards this demon. You and the boys are standing in the motel room where all the planning and research has been done this past year. The work that the man has done payed off, after all. And the colt that he had been searching for, the missing piece, was resting at the edge of the table he was sitting at, not far from his grip. Just like how it had been since he had found it.

“This is it. This is everything I know.” John says. He gestures a hand toward the mess that he finds functional. You think it’s impractical, but he had found a method in the madness, he had found the monster that took everyone all of you cared about. “Our whole lives we’ve been searching for this demon, right? Not a trace, just nothing. I thought we were close to finding this thing after it…struck again, but it went quiet again until about a year ago. For the first time, I picked up a trail.”

“That’s when you took off.” Dean said.

That’s when everything happened. Dean becoming worried from the lack of communication from his father. Him coming to you for answers, then when you couldn’t help, he tricked you into thinking that his father was probably just in California. But in fact you were going to meet up with Sam again to help out thinking that it was just going to be for the weekend. A year later, here you were, back together again.

“Yeah. That’s right.” John said. “The demon must have come out of hiding or hibernation.”

“Alright, so, what’s this trail you found?” Dean asks, taking a few steps around while his eyes gaze across the notes that his father has scattered around the table.

“It starts in Arizona, then New Jersey, California.” John explains. “Houses burn down to the ground. It goes after families, just like it went after us.”

“Families with infants?” Sam speaks up, you feel your nails dig into your palm. Here it comes. 

“Yeah, the night of the kid’s six month’s birthday.” John says, knowing that he had admitted a piece of information that was going to change how everyone was going to look at that night differently. You wonder how much guilt is going to build on Sam’s chest, like it was his fault.

“I was six months old that night?” Sam asks, looking at his brother and father for clarification.

“Exactly six months.”

‘So, basically, this demon is going after these kids for some reason,” Sam says, a scoff comes out of his mouth before he finishes with a question. “Same way came after me?” You swallow, directing your attention somewhere else. “So Mom’s death, Jessica–it’s all because of me?”

“We don’t know that, Sam.” You say, knowing the both of you are in the same boat. Before you can say anything else to try and make him feel better, he’s pushing himself off the sink and taking a step forward to you, lashing out his confusion and anger at you.

“I’d say we’re pretty damn sure, Y/N!” He yells, you’re quick to snap back at him.

“Oh, please. You’re think you’re confused? Both my parents are dead and I can’t help it's because of me! I don’t know how I fit into this goddamn mess!” You hiss at the man. Your patience was thin ice today, and he was cracking it with each word that he spoke to you.

Suddenly it’s like a game to see who has the most tragic back story after the deaths are tied between the both of you. While it doesn’t frequently cross your mind, you had made it known once or twice that you feel response for what happened in a way. Nothing was beginning to make sense the more you got deeper into this mess, you were starting to think there was another reason why that no one would say.

“For the last time,” Dean yells loud enough for the two of you to break your dirty glares you were giving one another. You look over at the man that seems more annoyed with the guilt trip, a year of this was enough. “What happened to them isn’t either of your guy’s fault.”

“It’s not my fault, but it’s my problem!” Sam targets his brother next to continue to yell out his frustration. You rub your temples when you feel a headache beginning to form from the piling stress that doesn’t seem to be ending. It’s only getting worse.

“No, it’s not your problem. It’s our problem!” Dean corrects his younger brother, matching his loud tone of voice.

“Okay, that’s enough.” John finally speaks up, getting up from the table to end this fight before it can get any worse. All of you take a moment to collect your thoughts before focusing yourselves back on the hunt before this demon can strike again and claim another life.

“So, why is it doing it? What does it want?” Sam questions, breaking the small silence.

“I wish I had more answers. I do. I’ve always been one step behind it.” John says. “Look, I’ve never gotten there in time to save…” He suddenly stops mid-sentence, not sure what is the proper thing to say anymore.

“Alright, so, how do we find it before it hits again?” You ask, trying to get the conversation back on track to where it needed to be.

“There are signs. Look, it took me a while to see the pattern, but in days before these fires, signs crop up in the area–cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms.” John explained to all of you. “And then I went back, and checked, and,” He fell silent again, but you and the boys knew what he was hinting at.

“These things happened in Lawrence.” Dean finished for his father.

“The week before your mother and Y/N’s parents died.” John said. Suddenly the room felt smaller, you blinked a few times, direction your attention to your shoes when they became more interesting. “And in Palo Alto…before Jessica. And these signs–they’re starting again.”

“Where?” Sam questioned.

“Salvation, Iowa.”

\+ + +

All of you wasted no time in packing up your belongings and enduring another long drive that would take at least a half a day to get to your new destination. You spent most of the trip taking a small nap to keep yourself sharp or watching as the scenery pass you by. Most of the time everyone stayed quiet, still not sure what was the proper thing to say anymore, and you were okay with the silence for the time being. When you saw the welcoming sign for Salvation pass you by on your left, you directed your head forward to see the street coming up.

But you found yourself beginning to grow confused when you saw John’s truck, that was driving ahead of you, pull off towards an opening that sent everyone off towards the side of the road. Dean followed behind and parked. You and the boys wasted no time in getting out of the car to see what this was all about.

“Damn it.” John hissed underneath his breath, slamming the car door in anger.

“What is it?” Dean asked. He walked forward to see what the commotion while you and Sam stayed behind, leaning yourself against the Impala with your arms crossed over your chest.

“Son of a bitch.” John swore again, still not giving any of you a clue to what was making him tick.

“What is it?” Dean repeated himself.

“I just got a call from Caleb.” John said, finally calming himself down to explain the situation.

“Is he okay?” Dean asked in a concerned tone. You knew Caleb was one of the few hunters that the brothers have used during their time of need for research and a family friend. You wondered what had happened to the man to make John so upset. But none of you realized this was but someone else.

“He’s fine.” John said. “Jim Murphy’s dead.”

“Pastor Jim?” Sam asked, his tone of voice rising slightly. John just nodded his head. “How?”

“Throat was slashed. He bled out.” The man explained the gory details. You heard Sam let out a sigh of disbelief at the news while Dean remained silent, you knew this must have been hard on the brothers. “Caleb said they found traces of sulfur at Jim’s place.”

“A demon.” You said, pointing out the obvious. Your eyebrows furrowed when you thought of something, knowing it could only be what all of you were hunting. “The demon?”

“I don’t know. Could be he just got careless. He slipped up.” John admitted. “Maybe this demon knows we’re getting close.”

“What do you want to do?” Dean asked.

“Now we act like every second counts. There’s two hospitals and a health center in this county. We split up. We cover more ground.” John told all of you. “I want records. I want lists of every infant that’s gonna be six months in the next week.”

“Dad, that could be dozens of kids.” Sam said. “How the hell are we gonna know which one’s the right one?” 

“We’ll check them all. That’s how.” John simply said. You couldn’t help yourself but let out a sigh of annoyance while you rubbed your hands over your face, knowing that this was going to be harder than you thought it was going to be. When you looked up, it didn’t take you very long to notice the stern look that John was giving you and Sam after he heard your dismay. “You two got any better ideas?”

“No, sir.” Both of you mumbled at the same time,.

You watched from the corner of your of your eye as Dean began to walk forward towards the car. You remained silent while you reached for the door handle, but you couldn’t help yourself but take notice of the silence that was beginning to grow concerning. John still remained next to his truck with his back turned towards all of you.

You glanced over at Dean, wondering if there was something that should be addressed. He just got a call that one of his friends was dead, for crying out loud. You knew that he man could have been in mourning. It wouldn’t hurt to see if he was okay before you took off and went your own ways, again.

“Dad?” Dean called out.

It was a few seconds before the man spoke up, straightening himself out into a better posture. “Yeah.” He mumbled, turning around to face you and the boys again. “It’s Jim. You know, I can’t…” He trailed off, falling silent. He had lost someone else to this monster. And it seemed this was the final straw. “This ends now. I’m ending it. I don’t care what it takes.”

And with that being said and done, you watched as he finally stepped into his truck and turned on the engine. You and the boys followed in his actions and piled yourselves back into the car before following behind and driving off towards the main road again. Knowing the fact that you had a troublesome loads of research ahead of you made your mind anxious to start the process, but in a strange way, happy to know that you could be of use. You had hoped you could find this baby before history repeated itself again and claimed another family broken beyond repair.

\+ + +

You walked the hospital halls with at least a handful of different files cradled in your arms with the fake badge, that Dean happened to have lying around for all of you in the car, clipped to your jacket. Research has been more of a grueling task than you thought it was going to be. There could be at least a dozen babies fitting the profile of what all of you were looking for in this hospital alone, giving you little hope that you were going to find the one that this demon was planning on making its next victim. Sam was just down in the other room where he had been busying himself with observing different birth certificates while you and Dean checked with every nurse to get the records that was needed. 

As you turned the corner to head back to the room the hospital provided for you, a frown began to stretch across your lips when you saw that Dean was hard at work flirting with some pretty brunette that must have been the receptionist. When there was something that resembled a female in his eyesight, the man wasn’t far from making his move. You had half a mind to head up there and tear that little scene apart. That the man should know better. But the heavy files brought you back into reality that you had more important things to worry about while Dean scratched an itch that needed to be done. If this got him to focus, let the man be, you thought to yourself. You let out a breath of annoyance before heading back to the room to continue the research. 

You ended up slamming the folders down on the table rather harder than you had thought. Sam jumped up from the paperwork he was observing to see you lurking over the table. Letting a small smile spread across your lips, you mumbled an apology before the both of you got back to work for a few more hours. Luckily all of you had managed to dwindle down the large pile of maybes into just a few when you had gotten done with your research. You made sure to make copies of the certificates and stash them away for future reference before heading out with Sam while Dean finished up some “important” business before joining the both of you back in the car so you could head back to the motel where their father probably was after doing some research of his own. 

Following behind Sam outside; you busied yourself with making sure that you had everything you needed, knowing that it wouldn’t be long before John would be grilling all of you for what you had learned. Sam kept his attention on his small book where he kept all his notes jotted down in one place. Just as the both of you stepped towards the sidewalk, that’s when it happened. 

You glanced over your shoulder when you noticed that Sam wasn’t walking in sync with you anymore. Your eyebrows furrowed in concern at the sight of him now. He was standing there with his eyes closed shut as a hand went up towards his forehead like he was having a sudden rush of pain. It only took you a moment to realize what was going on to him. Of course—he must have been having another vision. It had been so long since this happened. But you knew the signs well enough to know what was going on with the man. 

“Sam? Hey, you okay?” You tried to get him to snap out of it. But he kept going in and out of it for a few moments. It took him a while before he was back to normal. “Sam?”

“A train.” Sam mumbled to himself, still lost in his own thoughts. He was acting as if he had forgot about your presence all together.

You furrowed your eyebrows when you caught what he had said. “What? Sam what are you—” But the question died at the tip of your tongue when you watched him scurry around to pull out the map that he had buried in his backpack. He observed it for a few moments before he was off. You let out a sigh from his confusing behavior, all before you began to trail behind, wondering where he was heading off to. 

The two of you wandered through the town for at least five minutes; dodging cars and making your way through the wet grass from the rainfall that drizzled down earlier when you cut through the park. Sam finally stopped at the edge of the sidewalk when a small neighborhood came into view. He looked around for a few moments before the man found what he was looking for. You kept your eyes wandering around the streets to see what he was staring, but you felt your stomach drop at the sight. 

A woman that looked to be a few years older than you was pushing a baby stroller, enjoying the weather for a afternoon stroll with a child. She smiled and waved at a car that passes her by before continuing to head down the street. You slowly pieced everything together. It seemed that the family you were hunting down had found Sam. You didn’t know if this was a chance for all of you to to save them before it was too late…Or watch as history repeated itself with another family, almost as if this little demon was taunting all of you. 

With little time to think, you trailed behind the youngest Winchester after he began walking towards the woman, You found yourself almost jogging to keep up with him. You were just a few steps behind when he made his move. A warm smile and hello was all it took to get her to stop before trying to be polite when Sam took notice that she was slightly struggling to push the stroller and hold her open umbrella.

“Here. Let me help you. You don’t need that anymore Sam said, putting out an arm to help the woman out. She smiled at his act of kindness when he placed a hand on the stroller to keep it steady while she put the umbrella underneath, making sure to thank him. You leaned over the stroller to see the baby; a smile grew across your lips to see a little girl with a light pink jacket to keep herself warm on this rainy day. She occupied herself by chewing on a teething toy, only drooling more when she saw you. 

“She’s gorgeous.” You commented while looking back up at woman. “Is she yours?”

“Yeah.” The mother said. You watched as her smile grew when she glanced down at her daughter once more. A guilty feeling began to claw at your stomach. 

“Oh, wow. Hi.” You cooed at the baby. But just as she began to walk again, you quickly looked up at Sam, knowing that if she somehow got away without either of you knowing all the proper details, this might end up badly for everyone in the end.

“I’m sorry. I’m rude.” Sam stepped in front of the woman, flashing another smile before placing out hand for her to shake. “I’m Sam and this is Y/N. We just moved up in the block.” 

“Oh, hey. I’m Monica.” She said. Monica bent down and pointed a finger at her daughter, and in a baby voice, introduced the small child. “This is Rosie.” 

“Rosie. Hi, Rosie.” Sam leaned over to look at the baby, she just stared at him.

“So, welcome to the neighborhood.” She said, you smiled at her. 

“Thank you.” You mumbled. Taking a bit more of an examination at Rosie, you noticed how quiet she was, only making small noises every so often. Most babies her age would babble on or cry in front of strangers that gave them this much attention. But it was like she was on her best behavior. “She’s such a good baby.” You said, wiggling a finger at her before smiling again. 

“I mean, she never cries. She just stares at everybody.” She jokes. “Sometimes she looks at you, and I swear it’s—it’s like she’s reading your mind.” 

Your smile faltered, but you forced out a laugh to keep yourself acting normal. Sam spoke up again, trying to keep the conversation going in the right direction. “What about you, Monica? Have you lived here long?” He curiously asked. 

“My husband and I,” Monica pointed towards the white house that was just a few feet from where the three of you were standing. “We bought our place just before Rosie was born.” 

“How old is Rosie?” You asked, looking back at the woman. 

“She’s six months today. It’s big, right?” Monica went on. A smile grew across her face when she looked down at her daughter. Oh, she has no idea, you thought to yourself. “Growing like a weed.”

“Yeah.” Sam mumbled. He looked down at the baby and forced a smile. A silence had fallen over the three of you, the mother looked at you and Sam with curiosity, not sure if this was the end of the conversation, but the man continued talking. “Monica,” He started, but found himself trailing off again. 

She leaned in slightly, wondering what he was going to say. “Yeah?”

Sam still kept quiet for a few moments while he moved around his jaw. It was like he was trying to find the right words to say without getting her freaked out. But he bailed at the last second and tried a different approach. “Just, uh, take care of yourself, okay?” 

“Yeah, you too, Sam. And of course, you too, Y/N.” Monica said, nodding her head. You smiled at her again when she began to push the stroller towards her house. “We’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, definitely.” You said, stepping out of the way so she could continue. 

Just as you two walked across the street and away from the family, you looked over your shoulder when you heard her talking to her daughter in a happy tone. “Oh, there’s Daddy!” A smile spreading across her face when she caught sight of the red minivan pulling into the driveway. Just the sight of the family made a hand feel like it was gripping your heart so tightly. 

Monica stood there with the stroller and grinned when she watched as her husband walked forward and embraced in a quick kiss before heading inside, leaving you and Sam to sit and wonder if this family was really the one that you were looking for. But it wasn’t long until he had some more evidence pointing all of you in the right direction. 

“Aah!” 

You quickly snapped your head to the side when you heard Sam yell out in pain again. The visions were happening again, and by the sounds and facial expressions he was making, you knew they weren’t pretty ones. You didn’t know what to do, shaking him out of it wasn’t going to do any good. He just clutched his head and pressed his eyelids shut as hard as he could. You reached out to touch him after he was zoning out for more than a minute, growing concerned for the man. When you placed just a hand on his shoulder comfort, it seemed to be a wrong move on your part. 

In just a blink of an eye, it was like you were some person trying to sneak up on the man. His instincts must have kicked in from from whatever the vision had been, it had turned his hunter side on. You let out a gasp of pain when you felt his grip tighten around your wrist to the point where you feared he was going to leave bruises from the way he was holding you. You called out his name, hoping that would snap him out of his trance, but he just squeezed harder.

“Sam,” You tried to get him out of this, but he kept his grip on you. So you screamed at him loud enough to get his attention, but not enough for everyone else around you to notice this dispute. “Sam, stop!” And he did. 

You let out a sigh of relief when the iron grip loosened just enough for you to snap your arm away and cradled it in your chest. He happened to grab the one that you had broke not too long ago. You looked at him with a mix of confusion and fear, not sure what had happened to him. Sam blinked a few times before he realized what he had done to you. He opened his mouth to apologize, but you stopped him, pretending that you were okay. You dropped your arm back down to your side before hiding it behind your back so he couldn’t see it. You put on a fake smile, knowing there was more important things to worry about.

“I’m fine. Are you okay?” You asked in a concerned tone. 

He shook his head when he began to go on about what he had saw to you about Monica and Rosie. You couldn’t help but think that all of this sounded like the night Mary died. You furrowed your eyebrows before motioning for him to start walking, knowing you were going to have one concerned older brother and father waiting for the both of you back at the motel. While he wasn’t looking, you wiggled around your wrist, making sure he didn’t do any damage before shoving your hands inside your pockets and pretending as if this little incident had never happened.

\+ + +

“A vision?” 

You leaned your backside against the wall that was a divider between the two beds where John and Dean were sitting while Sam was parked at the small table, where he continued rubbing his temples from his headache that didn’t seem to be going away. You crossed your arms over your chest and listened at the conversation go on.

“Yes.” Sam said. “I saw the demon burning a woman on the ceiling.”

“And you think it’s gonna happen to this woman you met because?” John questioned, as if he wasn’t believing what his son was telling all of you. 

“Because these things happen exactly the way I see them.” Sam said, dropping his hands down to the table, aggravated from having to explain himself so much. You and Dean had seen this happen once before, the Miller family crossed your mind. Max the Psychotic Psycho Wonder. Or, another victim of this demon. 

“It started out as nightmares,” Dean explained, getting up from the bed and heading towards the sink to put away his coffee cup. “and then he started having them while he was awake.” 

“Yeah. It’s like—I don’t know.” Sam went on. “It’s like the closer I get to anything involving the demon, the stronger the visions get.” 

“All right, when were you gonna tell me about this?” John questioned all of you. You and the boys looked at him like he had grown a second head while he was speaking, not sure if he was serious. 

“We didn’t know what it meant.” Dean said, telling the truth, but that didn’t seem good enough.

“Something like this starts happening to your brother, you pick up the phone, and you call me.” John scolded his oldest son. You tilted your head to the side looking at he man with an annoyed glare, surprised see an ignorant statement like that come out of his mouth. And before you could stop yourself it was happening again, you were letting your emotions block your judgement. Just like the day that you had found him after the brothers had dealt with the horrors of their old home. 

“Call you?” You questioned at the man. You pushed yourself off the wall and walked over to him, everything you thought was falling out right out of your mouth. “Are you kidding me? Dean tried calling you from Lawrence, you showed up—but didn’t even face them when they needed you the most. Hell, Sam called you when I was dying. And nothing.” You hissed at him. “Getting you on the phone—please. I have a better chance at winning the lottery.“

You could feel two pairs of eyes burrowing holes in the back of your head for what you had just said to the man. You couldn’t help yourself. Just the sight of him sometimes made your skin crawl in anger. Any lecture from him would be ignored, you thought to yourself. But you were quite surprised to see the opposite happen when he looked up from his shoes to look at you.

“You’re right.” John said, nodding his head. “All though I’m not real crazy about this new tone of yours,” You couldn’t help yourself but roll your eyes at that comment. “You’re right.”

“Look, guys, visions or no vision,” Sam spoke up, bringing the attention back to the elephant in the room. “The fact is, we know this demon is coming tonight. The family’s gonna go through the same hell we went through.” 

“No, they’re not.” John quickly spoke up to correct his son. “No one is…ever again.” 

You took your position back to the wall when you felt the stress of everything begin to weigh down on your mind. Rubbing your hands over your face, you heard Sam’s cell phone go off, and with not thinking any more of it, you found yourself zoning out, listening to the conversation as background noise. But your head snapped down when you heard a very familiar name cross the conversation. A look of confusion began to grow across the youngest Winchester’s face.

“Meg.” Sam said out loud. You watched from the corner of your eye as John got off the bed while you headed closer to hear more of the conversation. “Last time I saw you, you fell out of a window.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks to you.” Meg sarcastically implied. “That really hurt my feelings, by the way.”

“Just your feelings?” Sam questioned. You bit the inside of your cheek. “That was a seven story drop.” But she ignored his comment, drawing the conversation somewhere more important, for her, at least. 

“Let me speak to your dad.” She ordered. 

Sam look over at his father, not sure what to do, but lying was always the best policy when talking to the enemy. “My dad. I don’t know where my dad is.” Sam dodged her command, shaking his head as if she were here in front of him.

“It’s like for the grown ups to talk, Sam. Let me speak to him now.”

You to see that he was looming over his son, not sure what do, Sam just looked at John for an answer. His father decided it was for the best if he had talked to the woman that everyone thought was dead, well, three out of one, you were still keeping her dirty little secret. You watched as he grabbed the phone and put it to his ear, ignoring the brother’s looks. 

“This is John.” He answered, stepping away from all of you, but just far enough so you could still keep listening in on the conversation like you had hoped. 

“Howdy, John.” The bitch’s tone was cheerful, you could almost picture her grin. “I’m Meg. I’m a friend of your boys and Y/N. I’m also the one who watched Jim Murphy choke on his own blood.” The room fell silent, that comment alone would have made you snap if you were in John’s position, but he just kept silent for a few moments. “Still there, John boy?” 

“I’m here.” He finally spoke up, breaking the tension.

“Well, that was yesterday. Today I’m in Lincoln…visiting another old friend of yours.” Meg said, you clenched your jaw in anger. “He wants to say hi.” 

There was a small pause before a familiar voice came on the other line , you remembered it from the times that you heard the boys talking to the man, it was Caleb. “John, whatever they do, don’t give—” But before he could finish, everything became silent. 

“Caleb? Caleb!” John nearly shouted, trying to get the other hunter’s attention, but still, there was no one on the other line at the moment. “You listen to me. He’s got nothing to do with anything. You let him go.”

“We know you have the colt, John.” It was Meg again, and she wasn’t speaking such nice words that were leaving a good feeling in your stomach. It seemed they were one step ahead of you all. But John tried to play dumb, hoping to fool the demon.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, okay.” Meg nonchalantly said. “LIsten to this.” 

A sudden yell of pain could be heard over the phone before the sounds of someone gagging began to ring in your ears. You pressed a hand towards your mouth to keep a gasp of surprise from falling out. That stupid bitch, you thought to yourself. She just wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted. 

“Caleb?” John called out. “Caleb!”

“Can you hear that?” Meg asked, her tone of your voice was almost curious before it dropped into a threatening one. “That’s the sound of your friend dying. Now, let’s try this again. We know you have the gun, John. Word travels fast. So, as far as we’re concerned, you just declared war. And this is what war looks like. It has casualties.”

“I’m gonna kill you. You know that?” John threatened. 

“Oh, John, please. Mind your blood pressure.” Meg brushed it off with a sarcastic comment. “So, this is the thing—we’re gonna keep doing what we’re doing, and your friends, anyone who has ever helped you, gave you shelter, anyone you ever loved, they’re all gonna die unless you give us that gun.” The man let out a sigh, knowing he was in a tough spot. “I’m waiting, Johnny. Better answer before the buzzer.” 

“Okay.” John mumbled. 

“Sorry?” Meg asked in a dumbfounded tone. “I didn’t quite get that.”

“I said okay.” He repeated his answer. “I’ll bring you the colt.” 

 

You and the boys looked at him with disbelief, surprised with the turn of events that was happening. He couldn’t be serious. There was no way in hell he was taking off with the biggest night of your life in progress. “There is a warehouse in Lincoln on the corner of Wabash and Lake. You’re gonna meet me there.” Meg instructed. 

“It’s gonna take me about a day’s drive to get here.” John said, but that wasn’t good enough.

“Meet me there at midnight tonight.” 

“That’s impossible. I can’t get there in time,” He argued, “And I can’t just carry a gun on a plane.”

“Oh, then I guess your friends die, don’t they? Meg asked. You knew she was pushing all the right buttons to get this man to do whatever she wanted. “If you do decide to make it, come alone.” And with that being said, the line went dead.

You found yourself lingering in the background with your fingernails between your teeth, your anxiety beginning to grow worse. Everything was starting to collapse. All the thoughts and hopes that this was going to end were started to be clouded with worst scenarios that crossed your mind. More blood on your hands if John didn’t do what he told. Another family destroyed because of this damn demon. The right ammo for a growing nightmare. Nothing could be easy, could it?

“So you think Meg is a demon?” Sam asked his father. 

Yes. 

“Either that or she’s possessed by one.” John said. “It doesn’t really matter.”

“What do we do?” Dean questioned, knowing this was the time to start making a plan. 

“I’m going to Lincoln.” John said, you looked up from the ground when you heard his his master plan. 

“What?” You found yourself speaking up. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion and anger. 

“It doesn’t seem like I have a choice. If I don’t go, a lot of people die.” John said. “Our friends die.” 

“The demon is coming tonight for Monica and her family.” Sam pointed out. “That gun is all we got. You can’t just hand it over.”

“Who said anything about handing it over?” John asked. “Look, besides us and a couple of vampires, no one’s really seen the gun.” 

“You’re just gonna pick up a ringer at a pawn shop?” Dean asked his father, his tone was as if that was one of the dumbest ideas he had ever heard. 

“Antique store.” John corrected.

“You’re gonna hand Meg a fake gun and hope she doesn’t notice?” You kept bombarding him with questions. She wasn’t stupid. Part of you knew she was going to know it was a fake if he tried to pull this stunt on the woman.

“Look, as long as it’s close, she shouldn’t be able to tell the difference.” John tried to validate his decision, but none of you were happy with the choice. 

“Yeah, but for how long?” Dean asked. “What happens when she figures it out?” 

“I just—I just need to buy a few hours, that’s all.” John said. But all of you could read between the lines at the bigger picture he was hinting at. 

“You mean for Dean and me.” Sam finally spoke up. You looked at him before back at their father, a bad feeling began to creep inside your stomach when you listened to him. “You want us to stay here and kill this demon by ourselves.”

“No, Sam.” John snapped. All of it was coming out now. “I want to stop losing people we love. I want you to go to school. I want Dean to have a home. I want Y/N to feel safe again.” You watched as he turned around and faced the window. The next thing that he said made your heart break. “I want Mary alive.” 

You looked down at the ground for a few moments, trying to keep your emotions in check, this wasn’t the time. “I just…” John finally wandered around again to face all of you with a glaze look over in his eyes. “I just want this to be over.”

All of you wanted this nightmare to end. But after all the talks, hopes and fears about this demon being killed by the man that wanted the revenge in the first place, it seemed so much like him to pull this kind of move. You didn’t know if you were beginning to hate John more for pulling a move like this on his children. Or if it was because this was the right thing to do. And you knew it.

\+ + +

Distant sounds of a whaling train could be heard from just above you, the feeling of your shoes sinking into the mud and the breathing from John and Sam were the only things you could make yourself concentrate on at the moment. If you even tried to think about the events ahead for the four of you, you knew that the panic and horrible thoughts wouldn’t be far behind. So you kept yourself almost at a distance from everything, only speaking when spoken to, doing what you were told, and staying out of the way. You shoved your hands inside your jacket pocket and watched as Sam got his father ready for another meeting with Meg, but still waiting on the other brother to come back with the fake gun.

And if on cue, you turned your head to see the familiar black Chevy Impala slowly driving up the dirt path until it stopped just a few feet from where all of you were standing. Dean turned off the engine and stepped out, his father wasting no time in making sure the job was done before heading off to Lincoln.

“Did you get it?” John asked, breaking the silence that had been lingering around for too long.

Dean opened up his jacket so he could sneak a hand inside before pulling out a crumpled paper bag that was molded out into the shape of a gun. He held it for a few seconds before handing it over to his father. John wasted no time opening up the bag and taking an inspection at the gun to see the work. You had to admit they looked quite similar with a quick look. You had hoped this wasn’t going to blow up your face and make this situation worse if the demon had found out this gun they had heard of was a fake.

“You know this is a trap, don’t you?” Dean asked the dreaded question. You looked up at him for a few seconds. His gaze lingered around the three of you before speaking up again. “That’s why Meg wants you to come alone.”

“I can handle her.” John reassured his son. “I have a whole arsenal loaded—holy water, mandaic amulets—”

“Dad,” Dean cut his father off, knowing that he still wasn’t on board with this plan.

“What?” John asked.

“Promise me something.”

“What’s that?”

“If this thing goes south, just get the hell out.” Dean said. “Don’t get yourself killed, all right? You’re no good to us dead.”

The last part of his sentence must have hurt to admit that, but there was too much truth in his words. John was the only one that all of you had left. And you would be damned if this man was going to because of some silly negotiation. He was better than this, at least, you thought he was. But you knew how sneaky demons can be. They let you think the finish line for suffering is just a small distance away and then bam—You’re falling through with another mess on your hands. You had just hoped that the next mess wasn’t going to be planning another funeral.

John kept his gaze on the gun for a few moments before looking back up at the three of you before speaking up again. “Same goes for you.” He said. You kicked a small pebble that was a few inches from the tip of your shoe, trying to keep yourself composed. John could sense the tension that was beginning to linger in around, so he decided to get this plan moving. “All right, listen to me.” He reached around and pulled the real colt from his back pocket. “They made the bullets special for this colt. There’s only four of them left. Without them, this gun is useless. You make every shot count.”

“Yes, sir.” The brothers mumbled in sync.

There was another sound of another train whistling in the background before John spoke up. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this fight. Now it’s here, and I’m not gonna be in it. It’s up to you boys now.” No pressure. “It’s your fight. You finish this. You finish what I started. You understand?”

Dean stared at his father for a few moments while Sam nodded his head. Your stomach twisted into knots when you felt the attention slowly shifted to you. While the brothers had known their role for this fight, you had wondered for all these months what you would be doing when it boiled down to this point. There was nobody out there you could trust, knowing that Meg wasn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty again if John didn’t show up at the proper time. And you sure as hell weren’t going to take a chance at leaving and heading for your home state where you would be alone, and vulnerable. You were stuck.

And as much as you wanted to lie and pretend that everything was okay, you couldn’t anymore. You were scared. The demon that had plagued you with nightmares and took everyone you loved was coming back. You couldn’t run, anymore.

“Y/N,” You heard someone speak your name causing you to drag your attention away from something in the distance back to the man that was just about to head off. You could see him trying to observe your face to see how you were doing. Suddenly you were drowning in guilt from everything you’ve ever said to him this past year.

All the man ever did for you was take you in during your time of need and looked after you like you were his own daughter. He might have disappeared for over a year and the search might have been nothing but near death experiences and fights when you managed to hear from him, but you knew all of this was for the best.

“I’m sorry.” You croaked out. You watched as his eyebrows furrowed together, you let out a quiet sigh that only you could hear. “You were only trying to do what was best for me. And I couldn’t see it until now. I…I’m scared, I really am.” Biting your bottom lip, you kept yourself from getting too emotional, but you couldn’t keep yourself from spilling out your thoughts. “It seems like everyone has a part in this fight and I don’t know what to do. Whenever we get even close to this demon, I only end up causing trouble or just make everyone nervous because I can’t defend myself. If I just stayed at home like you wanted—”

“You might have ended up dead because of me.” John cut you off in mid-sentence. You clenched your jaw at the thought, knowing that everyone seemed to be like dropping like flies these past few days. “You’re as much as part of this fight as we are. Even though I wanted you away from all this, I know you can handle yourself. Just make sure you keep the boys focused. You seem to have a special talent for that.” A small smile spread across your face, his words making you feel a bit more at ease from the fight that all of you had ahead.

And with that being said, it was time to get things back into motion before John fell behind on the tight schedule that he had. You watched as he handed over the real colt towards Dean, who observed the gun for a few moments before placing it inside his jacket pocket.

“We’ll see you soon, Dad.” Sam said, putting all his optimism in his voice. You could see a small smile spread across John’s face at his son’s words. You forced yourself to smile again, knowing it was better to try and see the light at the end of the tunnel, even though you still felt like you were being buried alive in emotions and doubt that kept piling up.

“I’ll see you later.” John mumbled. He patted Sam on the shoulder, giving all of you reassuring looks that things would work out for the best. The man walked over towards the driver’s side of the truck while you stepped backwards to get yourself out of the way. He opened up the door and looked at the three of you one more time before heading inside and turning on the engine.

You and the brothers stood in silence while you watched as the car drove off, becoming nothing more than a figure in the distance, before disappearing altogether. This was it, you thought to yourself. This was really happening. And there was no going back.

“Later.” You could hear Dean mumble to himself. You glanced over to lock eyes with him for a few moments, all you could do was force a smile, trying to keep yourself positive for you and the boys, knowing they had a harder journey ahead of them. You were just along for the fun before everything went back to the bitter normal.

\+ + +

Dear Diary, 

I’m close. I know I am. 

The words are repeating themselves over and over in my head like a bad song. I almost feel like I’m going to write them down if I don’t keep myself focused on writing down my thoughts before I go crazy. Months and months of tracking this monster, I have him cornered where I want him, and he has no idea I’m coming for him. The target of the night is a nasty demon, the kind that kills for fun. Over the past year I have been following a trend of crimes that are too eerily similar. A bad feeling in my gut sank down when I first heard about it in the local newspaper. It was like I to do this. I need to get this monster away before he hurts another family.

You sat in the backseat of the Impala with your back pressed against the door and your legs spread out on the seat. A few hours had passed by since you and the boys had parked out in front of Monica’s house for a stake out. The plan had went as this: You would tag along for “safety” precautions and another set of eyes for when things headed south while the brothers would be doing all the dirty work when the time came.

You kept your mind occupied with reading over your mother’s journal. After you had been flipping through it for a few minutes, you stumbled across an entry that had sparked your interest. The silence and muffled sounds of insects chirping away outside made you slowly drift away from what was happening. Sam speaking up after a long moment of silence broke your concentration from the sentence you were previously reading to look up at the man to see what he had to say.

“Maybe we can tell them there’s a gas leak.” He suggested, you tilted your head to the side at his horrible idea. “Might get them out of the house for a few hours.”

“Yeah, and how many times has that actually worked for us?” Dean asked.

Sam rolled his eyes, knowing that his brother was right. The two of them fell silent for a few moments before there was another idea was pitched. “Could always tell them the truth.” Sam said. A small smile spread across your lips. Honestly really wasn’t the best policy in this situation. You might end up getting the door slammed in your face or sitting in the backseat of a police car for harassment.

“Nah.” You and Dean said, shaking your heads.

“I know.” Sam said. “I know, I know. I just—with what’s coming for these people…”

“Sam, we only got one move, and you know it, all right? We got to wait for this demon to show itself, and then we get it before it gets them.” Dean said. You wondered how the man was keeping himself so calm and collected, you were sitting here with nothing but worries. And it seems that his brother was feeling the same as you were.

“I wonder how Dad’s doing.” Sam wondered out loud, changing the subject.

Dean glanced away from the window to stare straight into the street. “I’d feel a lot better if we were there backing him up.”

“I’d feel a lot better if he was here backing us up.” Sam admitted. You and the brothers locked eyes for a few moments, knowing that all of you were thinking the same thought. But you kept silent and swallowing your fear, knowing there was more important things to worry about. You dropped your gaze back down to the journal while the boys glanced back at the house to keep an eye out.

A little while longer passed by with nothing changing; you watched with hooded eyes as her husband went towards their living room window, he closed the curtains and turned off the downstairs lights. You fidgeted around in your seat to keep yourself awake, knowing that this demon was going to strike when the family leasts expect it, and everyone had to be on guard when the bastard showed up again to make his move.

Your stomach began to feel heavy with anxiety and agitation. You wanted this night to be over with. But you didn’t want to face this thing again. Just knowing that it was just a small distance away still made a bad shiver run down your spine. After all these years, all the monsters that you had seen, you still weren’t ready to face your nightmares.

“This is weird.” You admitted, looking away from the window and back to the boys.

“What?” Dean asked. He gave a curious look, as if he was serious to know what was going on in your mind. You shrugged your shoulders, glancing over at the house one more time.

“After all these years, we’re finally here.” You mumbled, shaking your head as you ever so slightly smiled. “It doesn’t seem real.”

Dean turned his head back towards the front, staring down at his lap for a moment before looking back up at you and his brother. “We just got to keep our head and do our job like always.” He said, trying to remain calm, always being the voice of reason.

“Yeah, but this isn’t like always.” Sam pointed out.

The oldest Winchester stopped staring out the window again to look at his brother. You could see him trying to find the right words to make the both of you to stop worrying, but it seemed that nothing good came rolling out of his mouth. “True.” He mumbled before putting his attention back towards the house.

All of you became quiet again for a few moments before you heard the sounds of Sam letting out a breath, as if he was about to make a confession. You closed the journal and rested it next to you on the seat, wondering what he had to say. “Dean, Y/N, uh,” The both of you looked at the youngest Winchester, he took a small pause before speaking up again. “I want to thank you.”

You furrowed your eyebrows while Dean looked around, not sure how to answer. “For what?”

Sam quietly chuckled, he turned his attention towards his feet for a few seconds. You waited for him to develop more on what he was trying to say. You leaned over the seat and pressed your elbows against the top of the seat, so you were now in the middle of the brothers. “For everything.” Sam said. “You guys always have had my back, you know? Even when I couldn’t count on anyone, I could always count on the two of you. And now…I don’t know. I just wanted to let you guys know, just in case.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa—”

“Are you kidding me?” You cut off the other brother, your voice turning in a serious one.

“What?” Sam asked, almost too innocent sounding.

“Don’t say just in case something happens to you.” You scolded him. Suddenly you found yourself changing from scared into protective mother mode. “I don’t wanna hear that speech from either of you, or I swear, I’m gonna knock some sense in that head of yours. Nobody is dying tonight. Not us, not that family, nobody. Well, except for that demon.” You corrected yourself. But you still continued lecturing him. “That evil son of a bitch isn’t going to get any older than tonight. Now, do you understand me?”

Sam remained quiet, you watched as he just stared back at the window, knowing there was a chance that one of them could possibly die tonight. Your or his brother just didn’t want to think that way. It’s not that you didn’t want to think about the possibilities of someone getting hurt tonight. You couldn’t. You had already cracked and let some of your emotions spill through the surface earlier today, there was only so much glue holding all of you together before one of you broke from the pressure of tonight. All you wanted was to suppress your emotions and try your hardest to be there for the boys, knowing that it was all you could do right now.

\+ + +

Somehow in the midst of all the racing mind and possible doom ahead of you, the fact that sleep could be just a few minutes away was crossing your mind frequently. You kept trying to suppress the urge to yawn and lay down so many times it was beginning to become like a game for you. You forced your eyes to remain open and focus on the house, while in the background you could hear the ringing phone tone over the sound of Dean’s cell when he tried to call his father for the second time. But it was only a few moments before the familiar voice mail could be heard from the other line. Dean let out a sigh and shut his phone again, letting his arm drop towards his lap.

“Dad’s not answering.” Dean said, you bit the inside of your cheek.

All of you stared back at the house once more; only one light was on now, the upstairs room, which happened to be Rosie’s room. You replayed the memory of Rosie and her mother in your head again. A happy little family, you would hate to see history repeat itself. You had seen the horrible consequences with Max Miller’s family, you would never want to hear about it again if you could somehow prevent this nightmare from turning out to be true.

“Maybe Meg was late.” You said, breaking your concentration from your thoughts. “Maybe cell reception is bad. Could be anything.”

“Yeah, well,” Dean muttered before becoming quiet again.

You shrugged it off and focused on the house once more, knowing it was just a matter of time before this demon was going to make its presence. But you didn’t expect it to be this soon. A static sound, almost like a high pitch squeal, pierced your ears, causing you to break your concentration from the house to the radio. You furrowed your eyebrows at what was happening.

“Dean, wait.” Sam whispered to his brother. “Listen.”

He reached up an arm and turned up the volume of the radio, but all that came out was the same static noise. Your stomach sank in the realization. Sam fumbled around with the radio for a few moments before a voice finally broke through. “This is your host, Jack Killian on KJCM 98.3, and goodnight America, wherever you are.” But that wasn’t the only strange thing to happen before the voice turned into static again. You quickly turned your head to the window when the howl of wind began to pick up towards gusts of winds and the lights all around you began to rapidly flicker. You nervously swallowed and sank down in your seat.

“It’s here.” You mumbled to them. You glanced away from the window to back at them, you widened your eyes in anger at them just sitting here. They had little time to think about your own safety when a poor baby and her mother was just moments away from death. “What are you waiting for? Go, dammit!” You growled at them, you clenched your jaw and watched as they nearly jumped out of the car in sync and ran towards the house, soon, all you could see was darkness surrounding your vision.

Everything seemed to be quiet for the most part. But you couldn’t help yourself to think that something was off in this situation…you nervously swallowed and glanced out the window. You had a strange feeling like someone was watching your every move. You tried to brush it off as nothing more than such the fear that had been getting too much for you to handle. All though, the feeling seemed to be growing stronger with each moment that passed by. You looked around again to see if there was anyone around you by chance, a dark figure in the distance, a stray dog, anything. Still, there was a soul around the neighborhood.

You let out a breath and sank down in your seat, knowing that you were just going crazy. You close your eyes and try your hardest to get yourself to relax. But when you open your eyes again, nothing more than a panicked gasp escapes from your throat at the sight.

There she was.

The woman was bloody, marked up with ripped clothing and stained fingertips. She was standing right next to the front of the car. You blinked a few times, trying to get this vision to go away, but no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t get the figure of your dead mother to leave.

“No,” You mumbled to yourself while you shook your head. “No, you’re not real.”

You turned your head when you felt a lingering presence towards your left side. A scream ripped itself from your throat when she was standing right next to you, a sadistic smirk with those eyes again. They were staring at you. You turned your head to the right side side in hope that her figure would be gone, but she was there again. Another gasp fell from your lips before you forced yourself to close your eyes. None of this was real, you kept repeating to yourself. You’re having a panic attack. She is just a figure of your imagination. You’re safe.

You forced yourself to take deep breaths, having them go from shaky towards a shallow depth that slowly was beginning to make you grow calm again. Everything will be okay. The brothers are going to kill this demon. John was probably heading back now. And you are going to stop having these nightmares. You let out one more breath before opening your eyes again hoping for relief.

But nothing more than another scream fell from your lips when you realized that she was closer now. Your mother’s figure was practically leaning over the seat with her yellow eyes wide with anger, you threw yourself backwards and tried your hardest not to let any emotion show through. You examined her wounds that looked to be becoming scabbed over with dry blood. She wasn’t the woman that you knew and loved. She was a monster, and even worse from the last time you had saw her possessed and all.

“I’m coming for you.” She hissed in a low tone. Her voice was dripping with venom, each word made a shiver run down your spine. “I told you, Y/N, you can’t run from me. You can’t run from who you’re meant to be.”

You gathered up the courage to make yourself move. You quickly reached for the handle and tried your hardest to get the damn door to open. But it wouldn’t budge, no matter the effort you put into it. Still, you forced yourself to think that you were going to get out of here. Tears pricking your eyes until everything became nothing more than a blurry vision. A sob broke from your throat when you could hear her laughing at your desperation. You could feel your heart pumping so fast, so loud. It almost felt like it was going to jump right out of your chest.

“Stop it.” You hissed to the woman between clenched teeth. “I know she’s still in there, come on. Stop it!”

But she didn’t break from the character that you had grown to fear everyday of your life. She began saying things that you thought were nothing more than empty threats you could brush off. But then you could imagine then when you closed your eyes, trying to block out the sight of the woman that was dead for all these years. You could hear each word she said to you. It was becoming too much for you to handle.

You quickly pressed your hands to your ears and curled up into a ball, hoping that it would stop. She wasn’t real, you kept telling yourself. This will be all over soon. But the triggering point was when you could feel her breath tickle your nose; the familiar scent of her perfume and sulfur. You could feel yourself becoming sick to your stomach.

You didn’t know how long you stayed that way. Just staying in your little curled up position with the fear if you opened up your eyes again, she would be staring at you. You didn’t hear the sounds of backseat door opening, but you could hear someone shouting your name in fear and concern. When you felt a hand touch your arm, you broke from your concentration. It took you only a moment before you were sinking your nails into the person’s skin, trying your hardest to fight them off, shouting for them to get away from you.

But the person won. You could hear soft mumbles that everything was going to be okay before you were scooped out of the car and into someone’s arms. It took you only a moment to realize that you were crying to the point of hysteria. You buried your face in Dean’s neck, clutching onto him for dear life while you dragged your eyes towards Sam, who had gone from angry from a previous situation towards concerned. Then your eyes flickered towards the scene that you didn’t even realized what had happened when you were out of it.

The home that you had been keeping an eye for the past several hours was now burning down to nothing more than ash and broken wood. A perfectly unharmed family stood a distance away with Rosie clutched in their arms. You tried to get yourself to calm down when you saw that everything was the way that you wanted it to be. But the figure that lurked in the upstairs window sent a shiver down your spine. He was still here. 

“Hey, you gotta take deep breaths.” You could hear Dean mumble into your ear. You forced yourself to break the concentration from the window to your breathing that was coming out ragged and sharp. You made yourself stuck in a deep breath of the smoke and night air before concentrate on what was going on. Your hands wrapped around Dean’s neck with all your might. His arm was wrapped around your waist while his other hand was buried in your hair. In the distance you could hear the sounds of firetracks coming down the street that would be here in just a moment’s time. You forced yourself to look down at the ground and closed your eyes, still picturing your mother’s face.

\+ + +

You sat on the motel bed with your knees pressed up towards your chest, not saying a single word since the long trip back. The mood was nothing more than stress and failure. You could tell Sam was more on edge than anyone in the room from what had happened; he missed the one chance to get revenge on the demon that had caused this family nothing but pain and grief. But instead, it seemed that the creature only let more old wounds open up for the three of you. Dean tried to reassure his little brother that the family was safe, a mother and her child weren’t going to have to face another hellish life they had to be put through. But it wasn’t enough. You were beginning to think nothing was going to be good enough for the man until he saw the demon dead.

“Come on, Dad. Answer your phone, damn it.” Dean muttered underneath his breath. You dragged your attention away from the hideous colored bed sheets towards the man that was pacing across the room again. He kept trying to call his father for the third time in just the past few minutes, but still, John wouldn’t answer. He pressed the end button and let out a sharp sigh, he looked over the two of you. “Something’s wrong.” But neither you or Sam responded. “You hear me? Something’s happened.”

“If you had just let me go in there,” Sam finally spoke up, his tone of voice was filled with tiredness and anger. You furrowed your eyebrows at him at what he had said next. “I could have ended all of this.”

“Sam,” You said. You might have been at your own breaking point from what you had saw tonight, but you weren’t going to let someone else die tonight because the plan went south. “The only thing you would have ended was your life.”

You watched as the youngest Winchester turned around from his seat at the edge of the bed the both of you were occupying. The look on his face was nothing more than mental; his eyes were squinting ever so slightly, the end of his mouth were twitched into a frown. “You don’t know that.” He said in matter of fact voice. You shook your head at his comment, knowing he was more out of it than you.

“So, what?” You hissed at him. You found yourself getting up from the bed, not standing for the crazy talk that was falling out from his mouth. “You’re willing to sacrifice yourself?”

“Yeah.” Sam said. He followed in your actions and stood up; he matched your height compared to his own that always seemed to tower over yours, you knew this was his subtle way of trying to take control of the situation. On any other given day, this might have worked, but you didn’t budge from the glare you gave him. “Yeah, you’re damn right I am.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.” You and Sam turned your heads to look at the oldest Winchester when he broke the unspoken staring contest. Dean turned around and kept walking towards the other side, punching in his father’s number again on his phone. “Not as long as I’m around.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Dean?” Sam questioned to his brother. “We’ve been searching for this demon our whole lives. It’s the only thing we’ve ever cared about.”

“Sam, I want to waste it. I do, okay?” Dean said, trying to reason with his brother. “But it’s not worth dying over.”

“What?” Sam asked. His eyebrows furrowed, acting as if the older man had spoken gibberish to him. So Dean tried again, using a different angle to make his point to the man.

“If hunting this demon means getting yourself killed,” Dean was almost yelling now, but his voice dropped when he finished his sentence. “Then I hope we never find the damn thing.”

“That thing killed Jess.” Sam pointed out. You and Dean knew where this was going again, you bit the inside of your cheek when he continued with the lost casualties. “Thing killed Mom. Y/N’s parents.”

“You said yourself once that no matter what we do, they’re gone.” Dean said, speaking the bitter truth that his brother didn’t want to hear right now. But you knew that it wasn’t too long ago that the brothers were having the same conversation, this time, the shoe was on the other foot. “And they’re never coming back.”

It seemed that was the breaking point for the other brother. You watched as just in a blink of an eye, without even getting a chance to stop the fight, Sam grabbed Dean by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the opposite side of the motel wall. “Don’t you say that! Don’t you—” He was practically growling at the man, letting all of his anger bubble through. He stopped himself for a moment, shaking his head. “Not after all this time, don’t you say that.”

“Sam, look,” Dean spoke up, “The four of us— that’s all we have. And it’s all I have.” You could feel the tears beginning to prick your eyes again. After all this time, all the stress and anger that this entire group of people have been through, Dean seemed to be the glue that held everyone together. And seeing him finally let his emotions through, the vulnerability, only made you feel worse for what he was going through. “Sometimes I feel like I’m barely holding it together, man. Without you, Y/N and Dad…”

“Dad.” Sam mumbled out, chuckling as if he had forgotten about the man. He stepped back and lightly tapped his brother on the shoulder, stepping back before turning around and walking towards other side of the room, a hand going up to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“He should have called by now.” You said crossing your arms over your chest. Not being the one to jump to conclusions, you clutched the last remaining hope that John would pick up the damn phone. “Try him again.”

Dean punched in his father’s number and hit send. You could hear the ringing sound in the distance from where you stood. Crossing your fingers, you hoped to hear his voice after the fourth ring could be heard. But with the streak of luck you and the boys had been having tonight, who answered the phone shouldn’t have come as a surprise. But it did.

“You boys really screwed up this time.”

Just the sound of her voice made the tips of your fingernails dig themselves into the side of your arm, the pressure enough to draw blood. You could feel anger beginning to claw at your conscious. Dean dragged his eyes away from the floor towards you and his brother. It seemed that the worst fear that all of you had been sharing was coming true. John was in danger, and Meg wasn’t being so helpful to leave any confidence in the situation of a safe outcome for the man

“Where is he?” Dean questioned towards the demon.

But Meg wasn’t afraid of his tone of voice, spilling out a threat that made your stomach twist into nervous knots. “You’re never going to see your father again.”

You and the brothers looked at one another with fear glazing over in your eyes. All the thoughts and doubt of this trip were beginning to come true. John had fallen into the trap like the demon wanted after they figured out the gun was a big, old fake. You knew it was only a matter of time before Meg’s threat was going to come alive. But you would be damned to see it happen. No matter what you had saw tonight, the mental breakdown you had to deal with. None of it was gonna stop you from getting back the one man you needed. No one else was gonna die.


	21. Devil's Trap.

His eyes were fixated on something, but the look in them was nothing more than pure fear from what he had just heard. You watched as he dropped his hand towards his side after the other line went dead just a few moments later after hearing the unexpected news. The heartbeat that was pounding inside your ears was so loud, you almost couldn’t hear what Dean was mumbling out to you and Sam.

It couldn’t be true, you thought to yourself. All of this had to be some cruel joke they were trying to play on all of you to get your blood boiling and on edge. They wanted all of you weak and brittle to make getting this gun easier on them. You waited for Dean to compose himself so he could try and think rationally to make a proper plan, but the man was just as riled up as you were.

“They’ve got Dad.” Was all that the oldest Winchester would give you as information before he began to slowly pace around the room, fear creeping into his facial features again. You blinked a few times when his words finally sunk into your brain. No. No, this couldn’t be happening right now.

“Meg?” Sam asked, fearing the woman that had given them nothing but hell was behind it. Dean nodded his head as the answer, that only got the other broker riled up with even more anger. “What did she say?”

“I told you, Sammy.” Dean said, not wanting to repeat the same words again. He kept himself quiet for a few moments, running his hand over his face to get himself to think straight before taking action. “Okay.”

You watched as the man headed over towards the nightstand where the colt had been sitting since all of you had arrived back. Confusion crossed your mind when you saw him grab it and stare at it for a few moments, before was shoving it into his back pocket for safekeeping. Then he was off running towards the duffel bag that was sitting on the next bed, he wanted to run. “What are you doing, Dean?” 

“We got to go.” He said, you barely had a chance to keep up with how fast he was going. It seemed that he was ready to leave with or without you and Sam. You didn’t know what to do, but you found yourself scurrying around to grab your belongings, knowing there wasn’t much use in standing around and wondering what to do next like a sitting duck when there was a vengeful demon that was messing with your head. You wanted out of here as quick as possible.

“Why?” Sam questioned, following behind his brother when he began to put on his jacket.

“Because the demon knows we’re in Salvation.” Dean started listing reasons why, but Sam didn’t seem to catch on towards what his brother was hinting at. “It knows we’ve got the colt. It must be messing with Y/N. It’s got Dad. It’s probably coming for us next.”

“Good. We’ve still got three bullets left.” Sam tried to start in, but Dean stopped him again.

“Listen tough guy, We’re not ready. We don’t know how many of them are out there. We’re no good to anybody dead. We’re leaving, now” The older man was scolding his brother like a little child, but you knew it was the only way to get him to start thinking straight. You gripped your duffel bag and shoved the strap to your shoulder.

Sucking in a deep breath, you knew this is the part where all of you run for your lives, you just hoped you could keep up with the two that have been trained for this moment their entire lives. You tried to reassure yourself that you could handle yourself, but the little white lie didn’t make you feel any better about this situation that you had put on yourself.

\+ + +

Swear word after swear word came tumbling out of your mouth when you nearly clawed at the leather seats, hoping the reckless driving that Dean was doing wasn’t going to kill you in this demon didn’t catch up. All you could hear now was the sound of your rapidly beating heart out of fear and the squealing of the tires against the pavement before he made a rather sharp turn before driving off again. You leaned back in your seat and tried to calm yourself after you saw the straight road ahead.

“I’m telling you, Dean, we could’ve taken him.” Sam mumbled out. After almost ten minutes of pure silence, the youngest Winchester spoke up, only to protest this plan of action that he didn’t seem logical at the moment.

“What we need is a plan.” Dean argued back, but he kept his tone calm. “They’re keeping Dad alive. We’ve got got figure out where. They’re gonna want to trade him for the gun.” From the corner of his eyes, he watched as Sam shook his head. “What?”

“If that were true, why didn’t Meg mention a trade?” Sam asked. You and Dean kept quiet for a few moments, slowly realizing what he was hinting at. “Dad, he might be—” You tried to stop him from speaking, but he danced around the topic more. “I don’t want to believe it anymore than you, but if he is, another reason to kill this damn thing. We still have the colt. We can still finish the job.”

“Screw the job, Sam!” Dean snapped, yelling at his brother for what felt to be the tenth time in just the last hour alone. You were beginning to think that the brothers were having different thoughts of the outcome of this situation, or what plan was right to take.

“Dean, I’m just trying to do what he would want.” Sam said, you rolled your eyes.

“Would you quit talking about him like he’s dead, already?” You said, not realizing your voice cracked until you could feel his eyes staring at you. You directed your attention somewhere else for the moment, trying to compose yourself before you had another breakdown. One was enough for tonight.

“Listen to me.” Dean spoke up, bringing the focus back to him. “Everything stops until we get him back. Do you understand me? Everything.”

Sam knew that his brother was right. He kept himself quiet for a few moments before he let out a sigh, knowing that this was the right plan of action. Having their father back alive was more important than anything right now, the demon could wait. It has been for the past twenty years. What’s another night? “So, how do we find him?”

“Maybe we go to Lincoln.” Dean suggested. “Start at the warehouse he was taken.”

“You really think these demons are going to leave a trail?” You asked, keeping yourself from scoffing at his plan. You really had thought he was going to come up with a better idea. It took him a while, but he began to speak with more logic at the situation.

“You’re right.” Dean mumbled. You and Sam looked at him with a bit of surprise. “We need help.“

\+ + +

Morning had been in full bloom when you woke up from an unexpected slumber; you were surprised to see that you had managed to get yourself to close your eyes for more than a minute without fearing of seeing something that you didn’t face again. But you slept for the rest of the ride with nothing crossing your mind, the kind of sleep that you had been needing. You let out a yawn while you readjusted yourself in your seat to see where Dean had taken you and Sam. All you could see was almost nothing but weeds and old patches of grass while the car followed a dirt road that seemed to be leading to the middle of nowhere.

“So, who is this person we’re seeing?” You asked, leaning over in your seat so you were now peaking your head in the middle of the boys. Propping your elbows up, you rested your head and watched as the scenery passed you by; an old tree here, some shriveled up weeds on your left. The sight wasn’t something that you had found interesting enough to grasp your attention.

“An old family friend.” Dean said, as if that was going to be enough. You waved around your hand for him to continue giving you more information, he seemed a bit hesitant, so he dodged the topic to a dead end. “You can wait in the car. We probably won’t be that long, anyway.”

“Don’t be like that.” You argued, annoyance rising in your tone. “I’m a part of this mess as much as you are. Don’t start pushing me away when every damn second counts.”

“She’s got a point, Dean.” Sam spoke up, you glanced over at him. You were surprised to see him standing up for you. With everything that had been going on, the frequent bitter arguments, you were expecting more of a suggestion to lock you in a room and wait until this fight was over. “She was going to have to meet him one day.”

“Who?” You curiously asked.“His name is Bobby Singer.” Dean said, you froze ever so slightly in your seat. He caught your expression before you managed to drop it and pretended to look interested. A few colorful words slipped out of your mind when you realized that you knew this man from somewhere else. “Y/N, this isn’t exactly time to be keeping secrets from us. You might wanna spill if it’s important.”

You debated with yourself in your head for a few moments to see if it was really going to be necessary to show them what you had discovered. Biting your bottom lip, you lost yourself in thought, not realizing you took yourself out of the situation before someone was calling out your name. You dropped back in your seat, wasting no time in before you were grabbing your duffel bag and zipping it open, a few moments later, your mother’s journal made out another appearance. But this time, you were going to show them what you had discovered, you couldn’t hide it from them any longer.

You leaned back towards the seat and dropped the journal straight in Sam’s lap, a sigh escaping your lips. None of you had ever really talked about this—your connection to this mess and the friendly demon that seemed to be picking off people one by one and taking families for an unknown reason. It took almost eight years, but you were finally getting to the bottom of it all.

“That’s my mother’s journal. I found it when we went to Daniel Wilkin’s house.” You said, nodding your head to the leather bound book, Sam delicately picked it up, acting as if he was holding a priceless work of art. “It’s kind of like John’s, I guess. I found entries where it dates back to when she first started her hunting days. The first entry talks about a man name Bobby.”

You lean over the seat just enough to flip towards the page that you were talking about. While Sam read away, the other one took a few glances while trying to navigate the road. “There’s no doubt that she’s talking about the same man as you are.” You could hear Sam, ever so quietly, laugh at strange coincidence that was happening. “And while I was reading this, I noticed she obsessed with this demon for years. Her entries date from when she first started to the night before she was going to head out on her last hunt. But the entry stops on the night…”

“Your dad was killed.” Sam finished your sentenced after you found yourself trailing off into thought. You nodded your head. He flipped through the pages, reading through them for a few moments before speaking up again. “How did you know she was hunting the same one we are?”

“You’re not the only one that’s book smart, Sammy.” You joked with him, nudging him in the shoulder to try and lighting the mood. “I noticed she made the same connection of patterns that this demon was doing long before our own mess started with the family, same weather related occurrences, animal deaths and so on. But there’s another thing that has been bugging me since day one.”

“What’s that?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know,” You mumbled. “I’m probably just overthinking. I mean, with everything that has been going on…”

“Come on, Y/N. You’re the one who’s always barking at us to share our feelings. If you’ve got something to say, just tell us.” Dean said, trying to get you to crack. You debated with yourself for a few moments, but decided in the end it wouldn’t have hurt. Maybe you were going crazy, after all.

“I don’t get why this demon is after me.” You blurted out your confession. “I can see why this thing wanted to kill my father—a warning for her to stop, I know. This thing tracking her down after so long and…I mean, you remember what it did to her. It was like he was punishing her for running for all those years. All those scars.”

You found yourself starting to ramble out now, speaking each word faster for them to keep up with you. “I don’t get it. None of this is making sense. This demon got what it wanted. She’s dead and gone. But it keeps messing with me like this is just a game. If it wants me scared, trust me, I’m scared out of my freaking mind.”

“Hey,okay, just calm—"

“Don’t tell me to calm down, Dean! I’m sick and tired of having to be calm while you two stomp your feet and throw tantrums like children.” You said, shaking your head. “It wasn’t too long ago this one wanted to send himself on a suicide mission and you weren’t too shy of punching a hole in the wall. So yeah, I think I have as much of a right to be acting out as you two.”

“Are you done?” He asked. You rolled your eyes at his question, crossing your arms over your chest. But you listened to what he had to say. “If you had let me finish….” Dean mumbled underneath his breath, you gave him a growl. “I’m not gonna let anything bad happen to either one of you. We’re gonna get through this together. Just with everything else that we’ve been through. Do you understand? We work as a team and don’t let our emotions get the best of us.”

“Well, this is going to be fun.” You said, adjusting yourself back in your seat. With the two of them that seemed to have a shorter temper than normal and everything that was at stake, you had hoped all of you could just survive the rest of the drive without one of you snapping at each other again.

\+ + +

All of you made it towards your destination just a short while later. You took notice of the wear and tear of the place; almost every inch of the place was covered with crushed car parts and what not. You followed behind the brothers when they headed up towards the house that looked to be in just as bad condition as the property. As you heard one of them knock, you took notice of an older looking rottweiler that didn’t seemed to be phased with you barging up on the place like this. Well, so much for a good guard dog. You quickly turned your head back when you heard the front door squeak open. Standing in front of you was Bobby himself. And by the looks of it, he was…surprised to see the brothers. You bit the inside of your cheek, wondering if this was the part where the door got slammed in your face and back to square one you were.

But in just a few seconds flat he was calling out their names like it had been forever since they had seen them, sharing smiles that were met with warmth. You stood back with your hands inside your pockets, beginning to feel awkward about your lingering presence. These brothers must have known the man for quite a long time, and here you were just sticking out like a sore thumb. You managed to force a smile when you felt the attention slowly draw itself to you, you felt Sam press a hand towards your back, pushing you just hard enough to make you step forward.

“Bobby, this is our friend, Y/N Y/L/N,” Sam introduced you, and just by the sound of your last name, the man was taking a moment to inspect your face, like he was trying to see if you looked like her. You waited a few seconds before he spoke up again, making you suspicions clear.

“You’re Ella and Andrews’s kid, right?” He asked, you nodded your head. “Last time I saw her you were still kicking in her stomach.” Your lips stretched into another smile, a real one. “Well, why don’t you get yourselves in here? I’m sure you didn’t drag yourselves all the way here just for a friendly hello.”

You glanced over at the brothers, they had just shrugged off his comment and followed inside, a quick call of your name and you were quick on their trail. You stepped inside the house to see that it was nothing of what you were expecting; you were surprised to see the amount of books he had around the place, stacks and stacks of them, enough to keep the bookworm inside of you happy to browse through a few. There was a fire going just by the desk he had had set with more papers and what not. It seemed that this was the one to go to when you had a problem.

While the oldest Winchester got Bobby caught up in the mess all of you had found yourselves in, you wandered around the room until you were standing over Sam’s shoulder, who had been sitting at the desk you previously looked over. He was flipping through a rather old, large book that had all sorts of information and symbols. You leaned in a bit closer to see what it had said.

“Here you go.” You glanced up for a moment when you saw Bobby hand over two silver looking flasks that were rounded shape with a cross on it. That must have been holy water, handy for a situation like this.

“What is this—holy water?” Dean asked, looking over the small container.

“That one is. This is whisky.” Bobby said. You couldn’t contain small laugh that escaped your lips when you watched as he took a sip of the alcohol, wincing as it burned while going down. A perfect time to take a shot right now, you couldn’t help but think. Dean waited for a few moments, as if he was debating with himself, before he was grabbing the container and taking a drink for himself.

“Bobby, thanks for everything.” Dean said. “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure if we should come.”

“Nonsense.” Bobby said, shrugging it off. “Your Daddy needs help.” 

“Last time we saw you, you did threaten to blast him full of buckshot.” Dean reminded the man. You raised an eyebrow, looking down at Sam, mouthing to ask if this was true, he nodded his head while his brother continued talking. “You cocked the shotgun and everything.”

“Yeah, well, what can I say?” Bobby asked, letting out a breath. “John has that effect on people.”

“Yeah, I guess he does.” Dean mumbled.

“None of that matters.” Bobby said. “All that matters is that you get him back.”

Just as Sam turned another page in the book, a chuckle escaped his throat from the information that he was reading. You had to admit this stuff was quite a fascinating read, you wondered if this was even possible to do. “Bobby, this book.” Sam said, glancing up. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Key of Solomon?” He asked, walking over towards the two of you. “It’s the real deal, all right.”

“And these protective circles—they really work?” You asked, tapping your finger against the drawing you had been observing for the past few moments with curiosity.

“Hell yeah. You get a demon in one, they’re trapped. They’re powerless.” Bobby explained, you kept yourself from smiling, this job might have gotten just a bit easier with this new found knowledge. “It’s like a satanic roach motel.” You and Sam laughed at his remark.

“The man knows his stuff.” Dean said. You watched as he began to walk forward to the rest of you, before stopping at the front of the desk.

“I’ll tell you something else, too.” Bobby said. “This is some serious crap you kids stepped in.”

“Oh, yeah? How’s that?” Sam asked, pretending to be nonchalant. You swallowed the fear of the upcoming news, knowing it wasn’t going to be good. It never was, in this kind of lifestyle.

“Normal year, I hear say, three demonic possessions, maybe four, tops. This year, I heard of twenty seven so far.” Bobby said. You were surprised to hear such a staggering number, you looked over at the boys to see they were sharing your name amount of hesitance. “You get what I’m saying? More and more demons are walking among us—a lot more.”

“Do you know why?” Sam asked.

“No, but I know it’s something big. The storm’s coming,” Bobby went on, you nervously swallowed while he went on. “You kids, your daddy—you are smack in the middle of it.”

Those weren’t the words you wanted to hear, but it was better to come out with the truth before it was too late. You placed both hands on the table to allow yourself to lean, while you had been trying to get yourself comfortable, a sudden noise brought you quick into a standing position once more. You snapped your head towards the window when you heard the sound of the dog, that had been quiet and changed up, began to bark loudly to grab his owner’s attention.

“Rumsfeld.” Bobby mumbled to himself in a panicked tone before he was rushing toward the window to see what the commotion was about. You saw from the corner of your eye when Sam got out of his seat to get a better view. From the parted blinds, you could see the chain that was holding the bog was broke in half, and the pup nowhere to be seen in sight. “Something’s wrong.”

And if that wasn’t enough proof, your attention went straight towards the front door when you heard a quick Snap! of wood breaking before the woman that you least wanted to see right now came strolling inside without an invite. A frown stretched across your lips when you saw Meg, she seemed to be as pissed off as you were when she came charging forward. She stopped in the middle of the room and looked over at the brothers, an annoyed glare sketched across her face.

“No more crap, okay?” She asked, as if one of you were going to do what she told.

Dean had other plans for the demon; you watched as he pulled out the flask from earlier out his pocket and walking forward, getting ready to splash the demon with holy water to catch her off guard, but she seemed to be one step ahead of him. She threw her hand up in a swinging motion and in just a second flat—the man was being thrown across the room and slammed straight in a wall stack full of books.

You gritted your teeth in anger, but kept silent, knowing it would be only poking at the beast and making her more angry. Sam wasted no time in grabbing you by the arm and dragging you and Bobby behind him, trying to at least protect you from the woman that wanted to see either one of you bleed.

“I want the colt, Sam—the real colt. Right now.” She ordered. You found yourself walking backwards with the men when she began to take a few steps forward as a warning. 

“We don’t have it on us. We buried it.” Sam lied, as if she wasn’t going to see through it.

“Didn’t I say ‘No More Crap” I swear—after everything I hear about you Winchesters, I got to tell you, I’m a little underwhelmed.” Meg taunted. She was cornering you, making all of you fear what she was going to do next while she went on. “First Johnny tries to pawn off a fake gun, and then he leaves the real gun with you two chuckleheads. Lackluster, men.” You felt your back bump against the the wall, a smirk spread across her lips when she saw you. “I mean, did you really think I wouldn’t find you?”

“Actually, we were counting on it.”

And on cue, you saw that Dean was up and back on his feet, he stared at the demon for a few moments before looking up. She wasn’t sure what he was getting at. But when she glanced up to the ceiling, her smirk had fallen when she discovered that she wasn’t corning any of you for answers. It was more of the opposite. You peaked out from Sam’s towering figure so you could give her a cocky smile of your own.

“Gotcha.”

\+ + +

You overlooked the demon that was standing right across from you with anger; while the brothers had thought it would be better to have her tied down to a chair while Bobby busied himself with salting almost every doorway and window. You were itching to get this interrogation started, you wanted to beat the answers out of her if that was what it took in order to find out where John was, the answer of him dead wasn’t going to be good enough. From the corner of your eye, you watched as the boys finished their work and headed back to where you were. And didn’t take Meg very long to make the situation a bit more awkward than your liking.

“You know, if you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask.” She said, her words dripping with sarcastic flirtation. You rolled your eyes at her attempt to make this situation out to be a joke, as if she was going to get out of this mess alive, if you had it your way.

Footsteps could be coming from the other room and just a few seconds later you saw Bobby coming back with the red canister of salt. You watched as he headed up to the three of you while screwing back the top on. “I salted the doors and windows. If there are any demons out there, they ain’t getting in.” The news was the best thing that you had heard all day. You looked over at the others to see what the next plan of action was, Dean took in a small breath before he got up from the table that he was sitting on and headed over towards the demon.

“Where’s our father, Meg?” Dean started off with a simple question, but of course, the demon ignored his command with a comment that only made your blood boil more with frustration.

“You didn’t ask very nice.” She said, tilting her head to the side slightly.

“Where’s our father, bitch?”

“Jeez, you kiss your mother with that mouth?” She pretended to be shocked by the man’s foul language. But her lips stretched into a smile when she corrected herself. “Oh, I forgot. You don’t.”

“You think this is a freaking game?!” Dean suddenly snapped at the demon. He went charging forward towards her, pressing his hands on either side of the chair while he leaned down so he was at eye level with her. “Where is he? What did you do to him?”

“He died screaming. I killed him myself.” She answered, your lips twitched into a frown. You knew she was lying from the details that he was telling the man, but he didn’t know the difference. All that was driving his actions was the frustrations that were beginning to spill over the edge, and he couldn’t take it anymore. Just in the few seconds of silence that had fallen all of you, the clear sounds of Dean slapping the woman straight across the face could be heard, echoing through the room.

Quick as you could, you jumped from where you standing and headed over towards the man, knowing that if you didn’t step in now, he was going to do it again. You managed to grab a hold of his forearm with both your hands, trying to get him to calm down. She was messing with him, getting the man to break down and lose it so he could lose focus.

You whispered for him to calm down while you watched from the corner of your eye as Meg kept her head turned for a few moments before looking back at the both of you. A smile spread across her face at the sight of you trying to keep him under control. Dean’s nostrils twitched, knowing that he wanted to do it again, but you wouldn’t allow it.

“I didn’t know your boyfriend could be so rough, Y/N. That’s kind of a turn on—him hitting a girl.” She remarked, her lips stretching into a smirk when she caught sight of your disgusted face.

"You’re no girl.” You hissed, looking her over.

“I could say the same about you.” She said. You didn’t know if she was being serious or trying to pull your leg, getting out a response that was only going to make you more riled up. You took in a deep breath to calm yourself down, these were just words, she was saying things to mess with your head.

“Dean, Y/N.” You looked over your shoulder to hear Bobby calling out your names, he headed over to the next room for some privacy. You had to tug on Dean’s arm again to make him start walking and stop glaring at the woman. You glanced over at Meg one more time, who just kept that smirk, like she was holding a secret from all of you. Ignoring the urge to ask her what it was, you followed behind the brothers to see what Bobby needed to discuss.

“You okay?” Sam asked in a concerned tone towards his brother. You knew the man was still tense from what had just happened. He was letting his emotions get the best of him, which was normally never a problem, but when it came to family, all morals were thrown out the window.

“She’s lying.” You spoke up, giving him a reassuring nod. “He’s not dead.”

“Dean, you’ve got to be careful with her. Don’t hurt her.” Bobby said, you furrowed your eyebrows at his suggestion of handling the situation.

“Why?” Dean asked, not getting what the man was hinting at.

“Because she really is a girl.” Bobby explained. “That’s why.”

“What are you talking about?” Sam asked with confusion rising in his voice.

“She’s possessed.” Bobby said. You glanced over at the demon at the news. You felt your lips twitch into a snarling frown. “That’s a human possessed by a demon. Can’t you tell?”

“Are you trying to tell me there’s an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there?” Dean asked. Bobby nodded his head. All of you looked at the woman one more time before glancing back up at one another. “That’s actually good news.”

The last time that either one of you had done an exorcism, you were near moments of falling to your death while the demon you were dealing with said some pretty nasty things. You couldn’t wait to see what this one had in store for all of you. Sarcasm, of course.

You walked back to the room with your arms crossed over your chest, hearing Sam’s footsteps trail across the house before he got his father’s journal where the information to get the fun started. At least you had this one trapped, and unlike the last one, you weren’t worried about this one going away. She was going to Hell where she belonged. And she would be out of your hair, once and for all.

“Are you gonna read me a story?” Meg asked, watching as the brothers walked back into the room, catching sight of their father’s journal. You rolled your eyes at her endless dry humor.

“Something like that.” Dean said. He looked over at his brother and nodded his head. “Hit it, Sam.”

Words of Latin began to spill out of Sam’s mouth, not a single one you could understand, but you knew well enough that they were useful for. It took Meg a few moments to realize what was going on. The look on her face was something that was written with an annoyed expression, but you could sense her fear, knowing that her time was almost up.

“An exorcism?” She asked in a disbelief tone of voice. “Are you serious?”

“We’re going for it, baby—head spinning, projectile vomiting, the whole nine yards.” You remarked, getting your chance to mock her sarcasm that you’ve had to endure for too long.

Sam continued chanting, and a few moments later, you knew it was beginning to work from the heavy breathing she began to do like she was in pain. Suddenly he stopped, he glanced over at you and Dean, like he didn’t know if he should continue with this or not.

“I’m gonna kill you.” Meg threatened between clenched teeth. “I’m gonna rip the bones from your body.”

“No, you’re gonna burn in Hell. Unless you tell us where our dad is. ” Dean hissed at the demon. Her silence was a clear indicator that she wasn’t in the helping mood. “Well, at least you’ll get a nice tan.”

Both of the brothers glanced up at one another for a few seconds before Sam continued on. He read off the words while slowly walking over towards you and Dean so he was now standing at your side. A few moments passed on, but you could tell it was working, from her growls of pain while the demon inside was being clawed out.

“He begged for his life with tears in his eyes.” It was taking everything in you right now not to claw at her throat to keep the demon was saying those words. You knew there was a human, but you couldn’t help it, you wanted to hurt her. “He begged to see his children one last time. That’s when I slit his throat.”

You licked your lips when Sam continued, keeping your anger in check wasn’t a possibility anymore, you needed to let it out before something happened. You leaned down and made sure you were eye level at her; all the fear that you had before was suddenly gone and replaced with hatred. It was like just the sight of her was triggering an urge to swing up a hand and rip her throat out. You wanted to see this demon bleed.

“For your sake, I hope you’re lying.” You hissed. You watched as she began to shake, she was trying to hold on, but you know it was just a matter of time before she was gone. “Cause if it’s true, I swear to God, I will march into Hell myself and slaughter each and every one of you sons of bitches, so help me God.” But she just stared at you, smirking to herself. You glared at her before standing back up into a standing position, knowing that if you didn’t stop yourself now, the girl trapped inside all of this mess would end up dead.

You could hear Sam continuing on after a few more moments passed on, but something unusual began to happen, it was like a gust of wind had passed by. Your eyes landed on a large book that began to have its pages flipped over from the wind, you looked over at the brothers, not sure of this was a good sign for this to be happening. Meg let out another growl of pain, you clenched your jaw.

"Where is he?” Dean questioned. He began to circle the demon with a watchful eye, as if she was going to crack, but you knew she was going to keep this up as long as she could before it was too late.

“You just won’t take ‘dead’ for an answer, will you?” She retorted. She glanced over at Dean, keeping herself calm. But that only made him more angier.

“Where is he?!” He snapped.

“Dead!” She practically growled at him.

“No, he’s not!” Dean jumped down at her again, so he was now leaning over to intimidate the demon. “He’s not dead! He can’t be!” You and Sam stared at him for a few seconds, but it wasn’t long before he was taking his anger at the both of you. “What are you looking at?” He hissed at you. He then looked at his brother with a glare. “Keep reading.”

And so he did.

You watched as the scene unfolded; different Latin words filling the room with small grunts and moans coming from the demon. It was a few moments before you started to see real, dangerous progress unfold. You took a step back in fear of what was happening. She began to scream out, you weren’t sure if it was the demon or the girl, but you knew something was going on when you began to see the chair, she was bound to, start dragging itself across the floor. Your eyes widened at was going on.

“He will be!”

“Wait!” You yelled out, throwing your hand up to stop Sam from continuing. You heard her, but you had a feeling it wasn’t the demon talking this time. “What?!”

“He’s not dead,” The girl said, but you knew the demon took over again when she spoke up again, the sadistic overtone coming back. “But he will be after what we do to him.”

You looked over at the brothers, wondering if this was the truth, or if she was trying to mess with your heads again. “How do we know you’re telling the truth?” You questioned.

“You don’t.” She said, you glared at her.

“Sam!” You shouted, looking over at the man.

“A building!” She suddenly shouted. You glanced back over at her when she began to speak up again with more information. “Okay? A building in Jefferson City.”

“Missouri?” You began throwing questions at her. “Where, where? An address.”

“I don’t know.” She claimed, you furrowed your eyebrows, not sure if she was telling the truth this time.

“And the demon—where is it?” Sam asked the burning question that had been lingering around the room for a while. Her answer made you begin to grow angry again.

“I don’t know. I swear.” She said. “That’s everything. That’s all I know.”

You glanced over at Dean, wondering if this was the right thing to do, but he decided to continue on with this exorcism, you were almost done with it, anyway. “Finish it.” He simply said before he began to circle her, like she was his pray. You had never seen Dean like this before; it was like his hunter side was in full force, he didn’t care about the consequences of things, he just wanted answers. It was like he wasn’t any better than this demon, right now.

“What? I told you the truth.” Meg pointed out.

“I don’t care.” Dean said.

“You son of a bitch.” Meg hissed. “You promised.”

“I lied!” He was yelling again. You watched as he leaned over her again so he was staring at her directly in the eye. If he was trying to make himself look more intimidating, you had to admit, it was working a chill down your spine. “Sam?” But his brother seemed to be out of it, like he didn’t want to continue. “Sam!” Dean tried again, he walked over towards the both of you. “Read.”

“We can still use her, find out where the demon is.” Sam said, trying to bring up another plan of action, but the other man didn’t want to hear any more of it.

“She doesn’t know.” Dean pointed out. “There’s an innocent girl trapped in there. We got to help her.”

But it seemed that Bobby decided to step in before everything could turn south. You turned your head in his direction when he was next to you and Dean. “You’re gonna kill her.” He said to the oldest Winchester.

“What?”

“You said she fell from a building.” Bobby said. All of you glanced over at the woman, as if you had forgotten that small detail. “That girl’s body is broken. The only thing keeping her alive is that demon inside. You exorcise it, the girl is gonna die.”

“We are not gonna leave her like that.” Dean argued.

“She’s a human being.” Bobby said.

“And we’re gonna put her out of her misery.”

“She’s not a dog, Dean. You know that if this demon gets out of her, she’s gonna have a very painful death. We can still use her for something. She has to know more.” You said. But the look in his face made it known that he wasn’t going to change his mind. So, you tried again. “What if that was Sam? Or me? Would you let us go through that?”

What he said next made you grit your teeth in anger. “Sam, finish it.” But his brother kept quiet, as if he was debating with himself of what was the right thing to do. You stared at him, you shook your head. “Finish it.” Dean repeated himself, in a harsher tone this time.

Sam let out a sharp sigh, you knew what came rolling out of his mouth next was a subtle hint that he decided to take his brother’s suggestion plan of action. You could hear the words spilling from his mouth again, but you weren’t listening anymore, all of your attention was focused on the woman that was going to die in a few moments because of you. Sam took a few more steps towards the demon while he continued on.

You watched as just a few seconds flat the demon was clawing its way to stay. Her eyes flickered towards the inky black that made you press your nails into your palm. You glanced over at the men that were standing next to you while the scene unfolded, the end was getting closer, Sam’s chanting was getting louder. And in just a matter of moments, everything was coming to an end.

A scream pierced your ears when you saw Meg’s head fall backwards with her chin pointed to the arm; an all too familiar puff of black smoke escaped from her throat and shot all the way up towards the ceiling. You were fixated on the sight, surprised to see that the remains of the demon vanished. Just like that, everything had ended. She was back in Hell where she belonged.

Now, the room fell silent.

You thought she was dead, you really did. You could see droplets of blood begin to pour out of her mouth as they made a stain on her lap. Everything was eerily quiet. All of you focused on the lifeless movements, almost expecting to see her jump back to life. You kept telling yourself that she was dead and gone for those few moments of silence. But you still jumped when you could hear her soft wheezes as she began to breathe again as she tried to move. She managed to lift her head up just enough to let all of you see her dark cherry stained lips, a mix of saliva and blood drooled down her chin. You gawked at the sight, blinking a few times, as if you were trying to see if this entire scene was true.

“She’s still alive.” You spoke up in astonishment. Your voice was barely louder than a whisper.

“Call 911.” Dean ordered for the three of you. “Get some water and blankets.”

Nodding your head, you followed behind Bobby to gather the supplies. You knew she wasn’t going to make it, almost every bone in her body had to be broken, but you clinged to the hope that, by some miracle, this girl was going to get out of this alive. You could hear her pains of groans and soft whimpers from the other side of the room. Immediately you pressed the palm your hand to keep the tears from falling again. No, she was going to make it. You grabbed a few blankets and headed back to the room.

The brothers had managed to get her from the chair the floor, you watched with a painful feeling that she was finally feeling the aches and broken bones from the seven story drop. She was now bloodied and bruised, the sight of her made you feel sick to your stomach, knowing that you and the brothers caused a poor innocent girl to end up like this. And it was just a matter of time before she was dead. You couldn’t deny it, anymore.

“A year.” The girl managed to mumble out.

You took a step forward to hear what she had said, curiosity becoming the best of you. “What?” Sam asked. He leaned in closer to hear what she had to say.

“It’s been a year.” She wheezed out.

“Just take it easy.” Sam tried to get her to calm down, knowing that she was wasting her energy, but she wanted to keep going. She was telling the three of you what it was like to be possessed.

“I’ve been awake for some of it.” She continued, taking a small moment to suck in a breath, the action of talking was almost becoming too much for her. “I couldn’t move my own body. You clutched the blankets tighter when you felt two pairs on you for a few moments before they dropped back down to the girl. “Things I did—it’s a nightmare.”

“Was it telling the truth about our Dad?” Dean couldn’t help himself but ask.

“Dean.” You scolded him, he looked up at you with a stern glare.

“We need to know.”

“Yes.” She managed to whisper out. The both of you looked down at her, she continued. “But it wants…you to know that they want you to come for him.”

“If Dad’s still alive,” Dean mumbled with hope in his voice. “none of that matters.”

Hearing the sounds of footsteps approaching from behind you made you snap out of the thoughts that began to cloud your mind. You headed over to the brothers with a few blankets while Bobby came over with a glass of water and a few extra ones he managed to find. You took a step back and watched; Sam and Bobby propped up her body to keep the pain from being too much for her while Dean helped her take a sip of water. You winced when you heard her cough from taking the liquid down roughly, but she managed a few sips before he set it down next to him.

“Where is the demon we’re looking for?” Sam asked another question.

“Not there.” She mumbled. She let out a gasp before talking again. “Other ones. Awful ones.”

You chewed your bottom lip, a nervous habit beginning to grow again from the things that you were hearing. Whenever you were around demons, it seemed that nothing but horrible things happened. You didn’t want to face a group of them that were nothing but evil, but it meant finding John alive, you were willing to take that risk.

“Where are they keeping our dad?” Dean asked, you knew he wasn’t going to stop.

“By the r-river.” She stuttered out. You didn’t know what she was trying to to hint at, but she gave you all another clue to where he was. “Sunrise.”

“‘Sunrise’? What does that mean?” He questioned at her. She kept quiet, all she responded with was small puffs of breaths, as if she was trying to tell him, but there was no more energy in her body to go on any further. Still, Dean repeated himself. “What does that mean?”

She stared at him with a glazed over look, the kind of look that could haunt your dreams for months to come. You pressed a hand to your mouth to keep a noise from spilling out of your mouth. All of you looked at one another with the same guilty stares. It was never your intention to let an innocent person die like this. In almost every situation that you had been through with the brothers, you always somehow found a way to save them. But not today.

\+ + +

Out of respect, you made sure to keep the body covered with a sheet and closed her eyes, making sure she was in decent condition before the authorizes arrived to see what mess had unfolded. You kept looking at the white sheet for the longest time, you almost kept wondering if you had wished hard enough, a thought would come to your mind—anything, to get this girl back. You knew she didn’t deserve to die this way, but there was nothing you could do.

A voice shouting your name caused you to break your concentration from the body. You looked to see Sam was waving you to head back, knowing it was time to leave. You took one more glance before you turned around and headed over to the brothers and Bobby. You tried to listen towards what they were trying to say, but your mind seemed to be occupied with a handful of other things.

"You better hurry and beat it.” Bobby said, walking the three of you to the door. “Before the paramedics get here.”

“What are you gonna tell them?” Dean asked. Trying to explain a woman with broken bones and all sorts of wounds was going to be a tough one, but Bobby didn’t seem fazed by the challenge.

“You think you guys invented lying to the cops? I’ll figure something out.”Bobby remarked. He shifted something around in his arms until he was holding up the large book that you and Sam were looking at previously. Sam grabbed it when he saw it lingering near his presence. “Here. Take this. You might need it.”

“Thanks.” Sam mumbled, taking the book and tucking it underneath his arm.

“Thanks,” Dean repeated after his brother. “For everything. Be careful, all right?”

“Just go find your dad.” Bobby said. “And when you do, you bring him around here, would you? I won’t even try to shoot him this time.” You felt your lips twitch into a small smile before it fell, the idea of the tough battle ahead of all you suddenly made you grow conscious of what was happening.

Trailing behind the brothers; you forced another smile before heading to the front door, just as you were about to step out, you heard Bobby say your name. You looked over to see what he wanted. The look on his face made it known that he needed to speak to you for a moment. You nodded your head for the brothers to go ahead, mumbling that you would catch up with them. You closed the door behind you to see what he wanted.

“How are you feeling?” Was the first question that came out of his mouth when you closed the door. You furrowed your eyebrows, but answered anyway.

“Fine, I guess.” You said, shrugging your shoulders. But there was something about Bobby that made you feel comfortable enough to just let a little true emotion show through. A sigh escaped your lips before you cracked a weak smile. “Who am I kidding,” You mumbled to yourself, looking down at your feet with embarrassment before looking back up at the man. “Would it be wrong of me if I said I’m scared out of my mind?”

“Sure fooled me. You seem to be handling yourself pretty well. Even keeping the boys in check, must be tough.” Bobby said. ” you know, you’re a lot like your father. Always making sure that everyone else is happy, trying to keep the hope alive.” You stared at him for a few moments. No one had really compared you to your father, mostly your mother was the prime eye for all of that. “I knew him pretty well. I have to admit, nice guy. Your mother did well.”

“Could you tell me more about him?” You found yourself asking. “When everything is done, when this demon is dead, can you tell me everything? What she was like as a hunter? What my father was like? She never said anything about him or her past. I guess it was too emotional for her to talk about.”

Bobby moved around his jaw for a few moments, like he was debating with himself, but he nodded his head after a few moments of silence. “Sure.” He said. “After everything she had put you through, you deserve the truth.” You furrowed your eyebrows at what he said, but he quickly continued talking, changing the subject. “If you keep this up, you would make a pretty good hunter. Take care of yourself, Y/N.”

Your lips twitched into a small smile while you headed towards the door. You opened it up and stared at him for a few moments. “You too, Bobby.” You said, your smile growing. “It would be an honor to learn a few tricks from you. I mean, if my mother was that good of a hunter, I think I could be as half as good as her.”

You made sure to say another thank you before heading back to the brothers, who weren’t very happy about keeping them waiting, but you shushed them and loaded yourself back up in the car. You had a bit more confidence after talking to Bobby, he made you feel like you had a winning chance at coming out of this alive. It was like you had a second wind rushing through your body, telling you to go forward and save the day. It was the one thing that was keeping you ping, and the last part of you that was making you stay sane. Because what you were about to deal with next was going to test everything.

\+ + +

Driving to the location that Meg had told you about took a shorter amount of time than you had expected. You busied yourself with taking a closer inspection of the book that Bobby had given Sam while discussing a bit of what was inside with him. It was something that was almost like a blessing in disguise; all this information was useful. The most valuable facts that you were learning about were these things called devil’s traps. As Bobby told you and the boys before, if a demon stepped inside of one, like a line of salt, they were stuck with no way of getting out. You wondered how none of you learned about this before.

When you arrived in Jefferson, Dean decided it would be good to get all of you prepared before the big rescue. He stopped in an abandoned area that was just a few minute walk from the city. You stood next to Sam with the book sitting on top of the car while the other brother was standing with the trunk open, making sure to grab all the necessary items needed. You noticed that Dean hasn’t spoken much since the three of you left Bobby’s. You knew what the demon had said was still bothering him, but he wouldn’t admit it to either of you.

“You’ve been quiet.” You said, finally breaking the silence.

Dean still wasn’t saying anything for a few moments, you could hear the sounds of another gun that he was tinkering around with cock back into place before putting it back inside the duffel bag. “Just getting ready.” He answered in a flat tone.

You let out a sigh at his response, you glanced over at Sam, who had been flicking through the book for more information, you still weren’t sure what else to say. You and him looked at one another for a few seconds before he was trying to get his brother to start acting human. “He’s going to be fine, Dean.” Sam tried to reassure his brother, but he still remained silent.

Deciding that it wasn’t worth the effort to get another answer out of the man, you and Sam busied yourself with figuring out something useful. As he flipped towards another page, you began reading what was on it, and by the information that you were reading, this seemed like the kind of thing that could work to solve another headache that was looming around in your mind. You pointed a finger at the drawing that you had found on the left side of the page and nodded towards the trunk, mumbling something that was loud enough for him to only hear, you knew if Dean caught a whiff of this plan, he would be more pissed than ever.

Sam grabbed the book, and cradling it with one hand, he headed over towards the opened trunk. He used the sleeve of his jacket to brush off the thin layer of dirt that had been collecting for some time now, giving him a blank canvas to work with, and with the white pencil, he began to draw away. It didn’t take a second glance from Dean to get frustrated at what his brother was doing, showing more emotion about Baby being vandalized. You couldn’t help yourself but roll your eyes in annoyance when he began to yell at his brother.

“Dude, what are you drawing on my car?” Dean questioned, walking over to see what it was.

“It’s called a devil’s trap.” You explained. “Demons can’t get through or inside it.”

“So?” He asked, as if he wasn’t seeing the point of this.

“It basically turns the trunk into a lock box.” You said, watching as Sam headed over and began to draw on the other side of the car to make this trap work properly.

Dean walked over and tried rubbing the pencil off, but it wouldn’t even smudge. “So?”

“So,” You repeated again. “We have a place to hide the colt while we go get your dad.”

“What are you talking about?” Dean asked, looking at you as if you had grown a second head during the conversation. “We’re bringing the colt with us.”

“We can’t, Dean.” Sam said. “We’ve only got three bullets left. We can’t use them on any demon. We have to use them on the demon.”

“No,” Dean argued, walking back over to his brother, he didn’t seem to like the plan you and Sam had come up with. Of course. “We to save Dad, Sam, okay? We’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

“You know how pissed Dad would be if we used all the bullets?“ Sam asked. He closed the book and tucked it underneath his arm before speaking up again. "Dean, he wouldn’t want us to bring the gun.”

“I don’t care, Sam!” Dean yelled. “I don’t care what Dad wants, okay? And since when you care what Dad wants?”

You breathed loudly through your nose and closed your eyes in frustration. Never could this family go without arguing over the smaller things while more important business lingered in the background. But they might as well get this out of their system before heading to the rescue.

“We want to kill this demon. You used to want that, too.” Sam was arguing back, even raising his voice to match his brother’s. “Hell, you’re the one came and got me at school! You’ve even got Y/N involved, and it’s too late to get her out! You’re the one who dragged us into this mess. I’m just trying to finish it.”

Dean stared down for a few moments, a chuckle escaping his throat while a sarcastic smirk began to grow across his lips. He was acting as if what his brother had just said was a joke, but you knew his reaction was different when he spoke up. “Well, you and Dad are a lot more alike than I thought.” He said. The tone of voice became harder when he continued to talk. “You both can’t wait to sacrifice yourself for this thing. But you know what? I’m gonna be the one to bury you.”

A small silence had fallen between the brothers for just a moment. You took it as an opportunity to put your two cents in. “You’re both selfish, you know that?” You spoke up, watching as both of them looked up from the ground to stare at you. “You can’t seem to let anyone else take care of the situation—”

“And he doesn’t care about anything but revenge.” Dean cut you off, you frowned at what he was saying, the same line he would say for the past six months. He still wouldn’t let it go.

“That’s not true, Dean.” Sam said. “I want Dad back, but they are expecting us to bring this gun. They get the gun, they will kill us all. That colt is our only leverage, and you know it, Dean. We cannot bring that gun. We can’t.”

“Fine.”

“We’re serious, Dean.” You said, crossing your arms over your chest.

“I said ‘fine,’ Y/N.” He repeated himself.

You watched as he slowly reached inside his jacket pocket and pull out the colt, showing it to the both of you, he then dropped it into the trunk and kept himself quiet. You forced a smile while you mumbled a thank you, knowing that this was harder on him than it was for the both of you, but he kept his gaze back towards the trunk, almost ignoring you altogether. You shifted yourself around until you felt a poking sensation roughly brush against your ankle. Funny thing to think that just over a year ago you were telling yourself that you weren’t the type to carry a weapon, now you’re too scared to go anywhere without one.

As you began walking towards the front side of the car, you caught yourself in the reflection of the window from the sun that was beating down on you. When you started to think about a year ago, it was almost comical of how things turned out, everything was happening in the opposite of what you thought it was going to be. You didn’t look like the girl that stepped outside of the house with a bag full of clothes for the weekend, eyes full of excitement for a small adventure that was ahead for you and Dean, never expecting to add Sam into the mix.

Months passed, adventures were starting to become a blur to you, the words that you told yourself right before you headed to Stanford were beginning to burn in the back of your mind as a reminder that you never wanted to be a part of this fight. You aren’t a hunter. And you never will be. Those were the words you told yourself before starting this journey.

Oh, what a bunch of bull they were now.

\+ + +

You and the brothers decided to take off on foot towards finding out where these demons were hiding out with John. The walk was quiet, only the sounds of echoing footsteps and your breathing could be heard while heading into town. You turned your head to see the lake that overlooked the neighboring city that was just across, the sight of the waves crashing against the dirt was almost calming to you, but you kept your focus back on walking, knowing there wasn’t much room for distraction. While you were trailing behind now, it wasn’t long until Dean stopped.

“Hey, hey.” He whispered, you looked at him with confusion. But you stood next to his side after he nodded for you and his brother to take a step back. “I think I know what Meg meant by ‘sunrise.’”

You turned your head to look over at the building that he had been focusing on for a few moments. A scoff almost rolled out of your mouth from what you had read: Sunrise Apartments, with a few children and mothers sitting outside, enjoying the warm weather. Looks like these demons were smarter than any of you were giving them credit for. All of you walked up a few steps until you were hiding behind a few bushes that weren’t doing much coverage, but it was better, just in case one of them were lingering around.

“Son of a bitch. That’s pretty smart.” Dean commented. Hiding in plain sight, the kind of plan that none of you were expecting. “If these demons can possess people, they can almost possess anyone inside.”

“Yeah. And make anybody attack us.” Sam said, you let out a sigh.

“And so we can’t kill them—a building full of human shields.” You mumbled.

“They probably know exactly what we look like, too,” Sam said. You and Dean looked back at him after observing the apartment complex for a few moments. “And they could look like anybody.”

“This sucks out loud.” Dean complained.

You rolled your eyes, knowing that he was right, this was starting to become a lot harder than expected. You rubbed a hand over your face, nothing good of a plan was crossing your mind, hopefully the boys had something up their sleeve. “Alright, so, how the hell are we gonna get in?”

All of you kept quiet for a few moments, thinking of a possible plan to get this plan back on track. It seemed that all hope was loss, that was, until Dean blurted out an idea that didn’t seem so bad.

“Pull the fire alarm.” He said. “Get out all the civilians.”

“But then the city responds in, what, seven minutes.” Sam pointed out the small flaw.

“Seven minutes, exactly.”

\+ + +

Exactly seven minutes later; you watched as the scene unfolded like you had expected. After Sam pulled the fire alarm and got almost everyone out scattered towards the side of the road with a few fire trucks pulled up towards the sidewalk. You wandered around until you were heading up towards a firefighter, pretending to be a nervous tenant, you began to asking questions to the man that looked like he didn’t have the patience.

“Hey, what’s happening?” You questioned at him in a weak voice. “Is there a fire?”

“We’re figuring that out right now, ma’am.” The firefighter said. “Just stay back.”

As he took a step forward, you blocked him, smiling nervously. “I have a Yorkie upstairs, and he pees when he’s nervous.” You said, but the man didn’t seem to care, you found yourself walking backwards while he directed you to the rest of the crowd. “Come on, I just got my floors done.”

“Ma’am, you have to stay back.” The man said, you were about to protest, but when you caught sight of Sam again, him just lingering around, you finally turned back around and joined the crowd of people. Everything was still going according to plan.

You settled yourself in the sea of people while the brothers continued on with their part of the plan. You felt the keys to the Impala feel heavy in your pocket while your cell phone knocked themselves against the metal. You kept waiting for the ringing sound to start, knowing that it was your cue to get the getaway car ready. None of you were going to have time when these demons had even a fraction of an idea of what was happening.

Everything seemed to have been going like you had hoped; you watched as the firefighters went on with the inspection, having no idea that the brothers had stolen a few pieces of their uniform to sneak themselves inside. You bit your bottom lip, feeling the time slowly linger on, the urge to get yourself inside was beginning to grow stronger. But you reminded yourself again that this would work out, you were going to get John back and everything was going to be okay. Letting out a small sigh, you focused your attention on something in the distance again.

But a feeling…a bad feeling began to claw at your mind. You couldn’t help yourself but turn your head just ever so slightly to look at the man that was standing next you, he was a tall man, towering almost everyone. You were going to pass him off as nothing more than a harmless stranger—but that’s when it happened. You could hear a small gasp of air before, just for a split second, you watched as his eyes flickered black. A color that had sent a bad chill down your spine when you began to wonder what was going to happen next. You quickly turned your head in fear that he had spotted you, but the man went on his way through the crowd, walking up towards the firefighter that had stopped you before.

“Hey, buddy, you can’t go in.” The firefighter tried to get him to stop, but a few seconds later, you somehow watched the process unfold and he was wearing a pair of black eyes. You nervously swallowed and shoved your hand inside your pocket, pulling out your cell phone as quick as you could, there wasn’t much time to waste before all hell broke loose.

You brushed past people, not bothering to be polite or worrying about some other demon in the crowd, you would take your chances at fighting one of them off. You wandered away until you found yourself in the back of the building, while you were trying your hardest to get a hold of one of the brothers, you were looking for any other sign of them from an open window or fire escape. You roughly hit the end button when you heard the same voice mail for the third time. Closing your phone, you shoved it back inside your pocket to see where you had ended up.

Wandering around, you had landed yourself in the back alley behind the apartment with another one just across from this one. You knew it wasn’t the most ideal place to be hiding for the moment, but there was enough eyewitnesses to see what was going on, or so you thought. You reached inside your pocket again to call one of the brothers, but the only thing that you had done was let out a gasp of pain from the painful sensation that ran through your wrist while the sounds of your cell phone dropping towards the pavement. You had little time to react of what was going on, but even if you had a chance to do something, it was going to be impossible with who you were up against.

Suddenly, you felt yourself being thrown against the brick wall that was closest to you, a painful cry escaping your throat. You closed your eyes and tried to brush off the pain, but the next thing that you felt was something grabbing a hold of your throat, breaking you from letting in sweet breaths that you were desperately needing right now. When you gathered the courage to open your eyes after a few seconds, you came in contact with two black ones, a smirk wasn’t far from his lips. If you could speak right now, nothing but swear words would be falling out.

“I wouldn’t have thought they would have used you for a pretty little distraction.” He spoke up, observing you for a few moments. Just the sight of his black eyes soaking up everything about your appearance made a sick feeling sit inside your stomach. “But this is gonna be fun.” 

The demon dropped your body towards the ground, allowing you only a few moments to try and crawl your way to your feet, but you let out another sound of pain when he grabbed you by the roots of your hair. “Where’s the colt?” He hissed, you could feel his breath tickling your ear. A scoff escaped your lips, you let out a breath, trying to stop yourself from moving so much.

“Where’s John?” You questioned back to him. But the demon didn’t seem to like that.

“I thought you changed from our time apart, Y/N.” The demon said, roughly letting go of you and allowing your body to rest on the pavement. You tried to catch your breath, but it was suddenly ripped out from your lungs when you felt his foot collide with your stomach. “We had so much fun before, with your little friend Josh, but you didn’t like that. So I got someone different.”

You couldn’t focus what he was saying, he slammed his foot against your rib cage again. Your insides felt like they were on fire. “I thought if I let him be, you would be nice and tell me where the colt is.” You tried your hardest to let out a breath when he stopped kicking you, but it was ripped out of you again when he leaned down and grabbed you by the collar of your shirt, making you stare at him straight in the eye. “I know I’m not supposed to kill you but, damn…” You felt his hand reach up and back hand you right across the mouth, harsh enough to feel a trickle of blood to start running down your skin. “I sure can leave a scar.”

You tried pleading for him to stop. Parting your lips open slightly, all that came out was a pitiful whimper of pain just from the movement of your jaw. The smirk on his lips made your blood boil in anger. All though, there wasn’t much you could do, it seemed that whenever you tried to move a single inch, all you could do was respond with a mumbled cry of pain. You were afraid he was going to do something again, but the sounds of a familiar voice ringing from not that far away, an unintentional sigh of relief fell from your lips.

“I’m not done with you yet, sweetheart.” You could hear the demon's whisper in your ear before you watched from the corner of your eye as his figure became nothing more than just a shadow against the pavement.

You had little time to think what your next move of action was before you heard the sounds of the demon setting his attention on a next target. Pain wasn’t something that you had dealt well with, but when you caught sight of the mess that was just about to unfold, you forced yourself up on your feet and stumbled forward to see what was happening. The demon had snuck itself out of the alley when Sam had been going to see if the coast was clear, but he didn’t seem to know who was coming for him.

You watched in fear as Sam got tackled down to the ground by the demon, giving you no chance to warn him, but you weren’t the only one to catch sight of what was going on. Dean had placed his father back down towards the ground for a few moments before he was off running to help his brother. He tried kicking the demon straight in the jaw, but that only seemed to have pissed it off, because with just a flick of the head, Dean was off in the air— falling until he landed on a windshield, his weight cracking it beyond repair.

“Hey!” You suddenly screamed at the top of your lungs.You started to charge forward towards the demon, you watched as he stopped punching Sam for just a moment, giving the man a moment to breathe. You glared at him, getting ready to rip him off of the boy’s body, but the next sound that went ringing in your ears made you freeze in fear.

The sounds of a gunshot filled the air for a for a few seconds before the demon’s body fell towards the ground, nothing but a gasp of surprise escaped your throat from the turn of events. Turning your head, you saw the colt was in Dean’s hand, still smoking after he took the shot.

You just stared at the man for the few seconds that you had before it was time to start running, the sirens was just a warning for the danger ahead of none of you moved fast enough. Dean rushed over towards his brother, you tried your hardest to move, but with each step that you took, the pain was only going to be getting worse. You managed to get yourself over to where John was previously lying, his steady breathing was a reminder that he was alive, something right was going on today. Dean had managed to get his little brother up from the ground and walked back over where you had got yourself to. All of you picked yourselves up, bloody and beaten, but alive from this fight. 

Looking over your shoulder, you caught sight of the demon’s dead body that you didn’t forget about just yet. Well…not everyone.

\+ + +

You didn’t know how long the drive was, it seemed that hours were beginning to draw like minutes, passing faster than you had expected. Most of the time passing was due towards the consciousness that you were going in and out of, just when you had gotten comfortable, the fear of something bad happening would jerk you awake. But when you saw the sight of everyone back together again, you felt your body ease up and relax just a little bit. You knew that this fight was just beginning, but you could breathe a little easier knowing that John was alive and well enough to see another day, sustaining a few injuries that would pass in time.

But you and Sam were a different story. You could make out the bruises across his face after he had gotten attacked from the demon, nasty swelling began to set in his right eye while his bottom lip was busted up pretty badly. You didn’t know how badly your injuries were. Whenever you tried to breathe deeply, all you would do was wince from the sharp pain. Your jaw was still feeling a bit sore from the slap that you had endured, making it a bit painful to talk for long periods of time, but it wasn’t the worst scenario you could have endured.

All of you had found a place to hide out for the mean time when darkness had fallen just a while ago. You felt the car come to a stop, but you were too tired to move, suddenly becoming comfortable in the spot that you were in. When you heard your door open and someone whispering your name, you mumbled out something about leaving you be and shaking your head in protest. But you knew that wasn’t an option.

You cracked open an eye to see that Sam was staring at you with a weak smile and holding out a hand for you to take. You noticed that the other side of the car was empty, Dean must have helped his father inside while you lingered around. You grabbed a hold of his hand and tried your hardest to get out of the car with little movements, but you still winced in pain while you took slow steps towards the run down house that seemed good enough for now.

“Hey, it’s okay.” He could sense your pain, even though you tried to hide it from him. But he wrapped an arm around your waist, gentle enough for you not to feel too much pain, and a chance to stop feeling some of the pressure. “I got you, Y/N.”

The both of you had made it inside the house and you were nothing more than exhausted, the urge to crawl on the floor to sleep seemed like a good idea. After everything that happened, your nerves were beginning to calm down and the adrenaline going away, the sleep that you had been fighting off with small naps was threatening to make you close your eyes. But you knew that there was a few loose ends you needed to tie up before you could let your guard down.

“Need help?” You asked, watching as Sam grabbed the heavy canister of salt to finish off the lines on a few more windows around the place. He shook his head, you rolled your eyes and sat yourself back down on a table that you had found. While you watched him work, you examined his wounds when he turned his head just at the right angle. “Hey, Sammy?” He looked over his shoulder and stared at you, wondering what you were going to say. “Missed a spot.” A smile spread across your lips when he quickly looked down to see what you were pointing at.

“Very funny, Y/N.” He mumbled, busying himself back to continuing the chore.

“Come on, Sasquatch. I was kidding.” You said, getting up from your seat slowly, before heading over back to him. You watched him continue the process for a few moments before an old memory crossed your mind, a small smile spread across your lips. “Hey, remember the time you tried to teach me how to do this? I tripped and made a huge mess. It took us forever to clean up.”

“Yeah,” Sam said, you could see a small smile that was beginning to creep along his lips. ”Dad was pissed at us for using his stache. He made you practice with sugar until you got it perfectly right. Who knew you were such a klutz, Shrimp.”

“Shut up.” You mumbled, pretending to glare at him while laughing quietly. You didn’t know when the last time you and him had shared a moment that ended in the both of you laughing and not bickering. It seemed that the stress of this entire trip was beginning to get the best of both of you, still, you couldn’t help but feel guilty when the thought crossed your mind.

“Sam, you know I’ll always back you up on anything.” He stopped pouring the salt when you said that, he looked over at you with a confused look, not sure what you were getting at. “I know I haven’t been the best friend to you these past few weeks. But I still care. You know that, right?”

“I know.” He said, nodding head. “These have been stressful times on all of us. Don’t blame yourself. You were just looking out for me and Dean. You always are.”

“Well, somebody’s got to.” You joked, leaning yourself against the wall. “You’re the only family that I have left. I’m not going to let anything bad happen, especially to you, Sam. You’ve got a big career ahead of you as a lawyer,” You knew that caught his attention, you felt his eyes slowly draw up towards your face. “Because dammit, Sammy, I’m seeing you graduate. Someone here needs to live a normal life when all of this is over. You deserve it.”

“We deserve it.” He corrected you. A small smile spread across your lips, you nodded your head. He was right, after all.

The attention in the room shifted toward the other brother that stepped out of the room that John was lying down in for a while. Dean came back with a white rag in hand, cleaning himself up after doing the same to his father, making sure there wasn’t any damage that any of you needed to worry about. Sam continued salting the windows while you smiled at Dean.

“How is he?” You asked the oldest brother.

“He just needed a little rest, that’s all.” He said. “How are you guys?”

You shrugged your shoulders, brushing it off as nothing that you could handle. Sam inhaled a deep breath before turning around and looking at his brother. “I’ll survive.” He mumbled. “Hey, you don’t think we were followed here, do you?”

“I don’t know.” Dean admitted. “I don’t think so. We couldn’t have found a more out-of-the-way place to hole up.”

“Yeah.” Sam said, nodding his head. He looked around for a few moments, you turned you head back towards him when you heard him mumbling out something before he was speaking out in a tone that you could hear. “Hey, uh,” Sam was trying to come up with the right words for what he was about to say. “Dean, you, um,” He let out a sigh before just spitting it out. “You saved my life back there.”

“So I guess you guys are glad I brought the gun, huh?” Dean asked, the smirk you saw stretch across his lips. You rolled your eyes at his sarcasm that never failed to ruin a moment.

“Man, I’m trying to thank you here.” Sam said, becoming annoyed with his brother.

“You’re welcome.” Dean mumbled in a quiet tone. You watched as Sam headed towards the other side of the room to check on something else, the air becoming silent. You drew your attention towards the other brother that was sitting where you had been, he was keeping his gaze down at the floor. His eyebrows were knitted together, like he was thinking. And it was only a few more seconds before he was sharing. “Hey, Sam? Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“You know that guy I shot?” Dean asked. “There was a person in there.”

Guilt must have been weighing down on his chest from having an innocent person killed, a heavy price to pay to save a loved one when you took away someone else’s. “You have a choice, Dean.” You said, taking a step forward towards the man so you were closer.

“I know.” He said. “That’s not what bothers me.”

“Then what does?” You quietly asked.

Dean blinked a few times, you could see him take a gulp before speaking up again. You couldn’t read his facial features anymore. “Killing that guy, killing Meg. I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t even flinch.” He admitted. He kept quiet for another few moments. “For you, Sammy and Dad, the things I’m willing to do or kill, it’s just…” You bit your bottom lip, you walked over and bent down so you were now at eye level with him. Seeing the look in his eyes made your heart ache. “It scares me sometimes.“

You couldn’t help yourself, you reached up and grabbed his hand that was resting off his lap, squeezing it. His skin was rough and calloused compared to your own, the kind that had done things. When you felt his fingers wrapped around your palm, it was almost like it swallowed it whole from the larger size compared to your own.

“It shouldn’t.” The sudden voice of John brought you and Dean back into reality, you turned your head while you quickly ripped your hand away, pretending as if nothing happened. He seemed to be proud of his son, a smile wasn’t far from his lips. “You did good.”

“You’re not mad?” Dean asked, surprised to see this kind of reaction from his father.

“For what?” John wondered.

“For using a bullet.” Dean said.

“Mad? I’m proud of you.” John admitted. You furrowed your eyebrows, you weren’t expecting to see him be so calm about this situation that ended up. But you were happy no less about the acknowledgment he was giving his son that was well deserved. “You know, me and Sam, we can get pretty obsessed. But you—you watch out for this family. You always have.”

Dean seemed to be taken back by the compliment. He looked around for a few moments, as if he was trying to figure out the right words to say. But all he managed to make out was just a simple, “Thanks.” You thought this happy little moment would last just a little bit longer…But all hopes were crushed when you began to notice the lights flickering rapidly. It was here.

You nervously gulped in fear of what was going on, Dean helped you up from the ground when John went towards the window to see what was going on. You knew it was something dealing with the demon when you saw the wind pick up outside, the sounds of branches tapping against the window began to become a rhythm that was going at the same beat of your racing heart.

“It found us.” John said. “It’s here.”

Son of a bitch.

“The demon?” Sam asked, but his father ignored it. All of you knew it was coming.

“Sam, lines of salt in front of every window, every door.” John instructed.

“Already did it.” He said, you even watched him do it not that long ago.

“Check it, okay?” John asked. Sam nodded his head before heading off and checking to see everything was perfect, just in case this demon was closer than any of you thought. “Dean, you got the gun?”

“Yeah.” Dean said.

“Give me the gun.” John put out a hand for his son to place the colt.

“Dad, Sam tried to shoot the demon in Salvation.” Dean said, but he still took out the gun. “It vanished.”

“This is me. I won’t miss.” John remarked. “Now, the gun. Hurry.” But Dean stared at the gun for a few moments, like he was debating with himself if this was the right thing to do. You and John gave him a confused look, not sure what had gotten into the man. “Son, please.” Still, Dean wasn’t going down easy. You furrowed your eyebrows when he took a few steps backwards, just until he was standing in front of you, like was trying to hide you. “Give me the gun. What are you doing, Dean?”

“You’d be furious.” Dean mumbled to his father.

“What?” John questioned, his tone of voice was filled with confusion.

“That I wasted a bullet. He wouldn’t be proud of me. He’d tear me a new one.” Dean went on. You weren’t getting what he was trying to say. But then you remembered the story that you and Sam were discussing earlier. How angry the man had gotten when the two of you were fooling around. You looked at the man standing in front of you. Something was off about him, you were beginning to see what Dean was hinting at. You suddenly heard the sound of the gun cocking back and the barrel pointing at the man in front of the both of you. “You’re not my dad.”

“Dean, it’s me.” John tried to reason with his son.

“I know my dad better than anyone, and you ain’t him.” Dean hissed at the man.

“What the hell has gotten into you?” John questioned.

“I could ask you the same thing.” The other man retorted back.

“Dean? What the hell is going on?” You quickly turned your head to see that Sam had gotten back from his inspection to see the scene had unfolded. You gave him a panicked look when the both of you made eye contact for just a moment. Nothing was making sense.

“Your brother’s lost his mind.”

“He’s not Dad.” 

“What?” Sam repeated himself.

“I think he’s possessed.” Dean admitted. You looked back at the man, he still was making himself look innocent, like how a father would look like if his son was pointing a gun at him. “I think he’s been possessed since we rescued him.”

“Don’t listen to him, Sammy.”

“Dean, how do you know?” You finally found your voice.

“H-He’s different.” Dean said, you bit the inside of your cheek.

“We don’t have time for this.” John argued. “Sam, if you want to kill this demon, you’ve got to trust me.” But the youngest Winchester just stared at both of them, still not sure what to do. You couldn’t admit that you were caught in the middle. You were already siding with Dean from your silence. You burned holes in the back on Sam’s head, as if you were trying to make him choose the right choice. “Sam?” His father repeated his son’s name.

“No.” Sam whispered out. “No.” You watched as the man walked over until he was standing next to his brother, he made the choice to stay by the side of the two people that he had grown closer towards during this past year.

The look on John’s face was nothing more than hurt. You watched as his lips twitched, faltering from the weak smile that he was forcing from the turn of events. “Fine.” He muttered, shaking his head in disappointment. “You three are so sure. Go ahead. Kill me.” John bent his head down, as if he was waiting for the shot to end all of this.

You and the boys looked at one another for a few moments. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It was just the fear of everything that was happening the paranoia was messing with your head. Dean lifted his finger off the trigger, suddenly becoming guilty of what he was about to do.

“I thought so.” John’s head lifted his head up with a sly smirk spreading across his lips. You turned your head just fast enough to see his eyes change to the color that had haunted your dreams for years. Took everyone you ever loved.

Good old, Yellow Eyes was back.

\+ + +

You dreaded this moment for years. All the nightmares that kept you in pariona from having to face this monster again, the scenarios that played out in your mind if there was ever a chance this would come true—nothing you imagined had come close to the fear of having to settle for the outcome that nobody was expecting. The demon was back with a vengeance; and he was using the one person that all of you had left. You knew in the back of your mind that all of you were going to die a very painful, slow death if none of you had come up with a plan.

With your heartbeat ramming themselves loudly in your ears and the shakiness that wracked your entire body, you didn’t even flinch when you heard the sounds of their bodies being slammed against the wall one by one. Sam was pinned against the wall to your left and Dean was behind you. You quickly whipped your head back down when you heard the colt drop at your feet, and like an idiot, you reached for it, like you had the conscious to shoot this man.

Stumbling to your knees, you snatched the gun, the cold metal felt heavy underneath your touch when you picked it up and somehow managed to get back to your feet in time before he could figure out what you were doing. You pointed the gun at the man’s chest, your finger pressed on the trigger. You tried to make yourself appear as strong, but he could see through the face that you tried to pull. It didn’t take long until the shaking began again from fear. You knew you couldn’t it. But you still remained as you were.

“Atta girl.” He taunted at you. You swallowed, weighting the thought to press your finger harder on the trigger from that comment alone. “Do it. Shoot Johnny boy. Make Mommy proud. Do what she couldn’t do. What she ran away from after I gave her everything.”

“What?” You whispered out, barely loud enough for you to hear. But the smirk that continued to grow on his lips made it known that he heard you. A sinking feeling began to sit on your stomach. “What are you talking about?” You hissed now, suddenly wanting answers.

But the next thing that came out of your mouth was a gasp of pain, the sensation of something running down your forearm. You had to drop the gun when it came too much for you to handle, you reached over with your other hand, lifting up your sleeve, you noticed the bloody marks that began to bleed just enough to let a few droplets spill towards the ground. You looked back up at the demon when you heard heavy footsteps coming forward. You watched as bent down and picked up the gun, keeping his attention focused on you for a few moments before bringing it back down to the special item that all of you had been hunting for.

“What a pain in the ass this thing’s been.” He mumbled, his voice was gruff and deep, different compared to the normal voice that John had always used. You tried to move your body, but like you had feared, he had pinned you in place.

"It’s you, isn’t it?” Sam finally spoke up. The demon grew a cocky smirk when he looked over at the man. “We’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

“Well, you found me.” The demon said, not with much interest.

“But the holy water?” Sam questioned in confusion.

“You think something like that is gonna work on something like me?” Yellow Eyes wondered out loud, like all of you should have known that something so pitiful that should burn demons from the touch was nothing but a silly little liquid. You swallowed in fear, this was more complicated than any of you once realized.

Sam tried again to get himself free from the invisible force that was keeping him in place. You watched as he grunted out, putting all of his might into getting himself out, but all he ended up was banging his head against the wall when the pressure became too much again. “I’m gonna kill you!” He threatened, venom dripping in his words.

“Oh, that would be a neat trick. In fact, here.” The demon placed the colt down on the table, you furrowed your eyebrows, not sure what was going on. But you felt your blood boil when he began to taunt the man about the little secret that only the three of you knew. “Go ahead. Make the gun float to you there, Psychic Boy.” You and Dean stared at him, like you were expecting to see it happen, but of course, nothing did. The demon chuckled to himself.

“Well, this is fun.” Yellow Eyes went on, you watched as he began to walk forward towards Dean, you felt your nails dig your nails into your palm, wondering if he was going to do something. But he stopped at the window, looking out at the night sky. “I could’ve killed you a hundred times today, but this,” He let out a sigh as the arrogance began to grow back in his voice. “This is worth the wait.”

Funny to see how things worked out for the demon; he had everyone that wanted nothing more out of life to see it dead, trapped down with nowhere to go, and the last parent any of you had in lock down, like a puppet. You stared at the back of his head. You wished you had taken the shot when you had the chance.

“Your dad—he’s in here with me,” He turned his head to face Dean, you looked at the demon with disgust, but all of his attention was on the older son. It was now his turn to get picked on, see how far he could go before the man broke. “Trapped in his own meat suit. He says ‘Hi,’ by the way.” The demon was acting like this was a joke, but he made his intentions clear. “He’s gonna tear you apart.” He threatened. “He’s gonna taste the iron in your blood.”

“Let him go,” You hissed at the demon. You watched as he looked over your shoulder, a bit surprised to see that you had spoken up, but you weren’t afraid just yet of it. You weren’t going to let history repeat itself on this family. “Or I swear to God—”

“What?” Yellow eyes questioned at you. You clenched your jaw when you watched as he began to make his way back to you. “What are you and God gonna do? You see, as far as I’m concerned, this is justice.” You wanted to back away when he was close to you again, making you feel like you were the smallest thing in the room. You found yourself shaking again in fear of what he was going to do to you again. “You know that little exorcism of yours? That was my daughter.”

Your mouth fell open slightly, your eyebrows furrowed. You made the connection to who he was talking about. “Who, Meg?”

“The one in the alley? That was my boy.” He leaned in closer to make his point. All of his twisted family was dead, and you allowed it to happen. Like you could have stopped all of this from happening. “You understand?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” You mumbled to yourself, shaking your head at the knowledge he was telling you. This had to be some kind of sick, twisted joke. But it wasn’t.

“What? You’re the only one that can have a family? You destroyed my children. How would you feel if I killed your family?” He asked. You glared at him, burning holes into his forehead, hoping that somehow would kill him. But all it did was was make a grin spread across his lips. ”Oh, that’s right. I forgot.” He reminded you. “I did.” You wanted to kill him, you wanted to see him bleed. You wanted every trace of him gone from this world. “Still, two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“You son of a bitch.” You hissed at the demon.

“I want to know why.” Sam spoke up, bringing the attention back to him. “Why did you do it?”

“You mean why did I kill Mommy and pretty, little Jess?” Yellow Eyes asked, turning his head to look over at the man.

“Yeah.” Sam said, nodding his head. He wanted answers.

“You know, I never told you or Dean this,” Yellow Eyes said, looking back at you again for a few moments before walking over to the youngest Winchester. “But Sam was gonna ask her to marry him. Been shopping for rings and everything. He was gonna tell you the night before you left, but good old Dean got in the way.” The demon turned around and faced Sam. “You want to know why?” He asked the man. “Because they got in the way.”

“In the way of what?” Sam questioned.

“My plans I have for you, Sammy—you…and all the children like you.” The demon explained. You felt a chill run down your spine when he looked back at you again. “Don’t think I forgot about you, sweetheart. Oh, the things I have planned for the both of you.”

“Listen, you mind getting this over with, huh?” The attention in the room crept back towards Dean. You glared at him to be quiet, but he still kept up the attitude. “‘Because I really can’t stand the monologuing.”

“Funny,” Yellow Eyes spat out, stomping his way towards Dean, but still, the other man wouldn’t crack from the hard exterior. “But that’s all part of your M.O., isn’t it? Mask all that nasty pain, mask the truth.” He leaned in closer so he was staring at Dean straight in the eye.

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” Dean asked, amusing himself with whatever answer the demon was thinking. But he didn’t seem to think that this monster was going to let his words to get to his mind, twist the truth in a way that couldn’t make either one of you tell what was fact or fiction.

“You know, you fight, and you fight for this family, but the truth is they don’t need you. She doesn’t need you. Not like you need them.” Yellow Eyes taunted at him. You and Sam looked at the demon with anger, the both of you knew this wasn’t true, you hoped that Dean could see through the lies. But he continued. “Sam—he’s clearly John’s favorite. Even when they fight, it’s more concern than he’s ever shown you.”

Dean kept quiet for a few moments, you watched as just stared at the demon, his lips parted halfway into a smirk. “I bet you’re real proud of your kids, too, huh?” Dean asked, you knew he was trying to taunt the demon from what came rolling out of his mouth next. “Oh wait, I forgot. I wasted ‘em.”

Yellow Eyes kept quiet for a few moments, you knew this wasn’t good. Dean was pressing all the right buttons to set the demon off, and it was just a matter of time until karma set in. The demon titled his head down just for a second, but the next thing that you heard was the screams of pain coming from Dean.

Your eyes widened, not sure what was happening, all you could hear now was your pounding heartbeat and Sam yelling out his brother’s name. The clear evidence of what the demon was doing to the man came running down his shirt, you could see lines of blood beginning to run down. You tried your hardest to get free with all your might that you could muster up right now, you were in near tears of seeing what was happening to the man.

“Dad!” Dean called out, he was trying his hardest to stop screaming from the pain to capture the one man’s attention before it was too late. “Don’t you let it kill me!”

But nothing happened, he was still trapped inside, having to watch his son bleed away like the rest of you. You were shaking, watching with guilt as the man that always acted so tough under any circumstance, slowly unravel from the torture that was being caused. His face was scrunched up with pain as he tried his hardest not to let the demon hear him, the fear crossed his facial expression as he stared down at the blood that was almost pouring out of his wounds.

“Dad, please.” Dean tried again, blood slowly dripping from his lips now. You kept pulling away at the force, gritting your teeth in anger with tears beginning to form in your eyes. This wasn’t how it was meant you to be, you weren’t going to let him die this way.

“Dean!” You screamed out when you watched as his head dropped down, losing consciousness for a moment from all the blood that he had been losing. You had hoped he was still alive, the lack of movements was beginning to scare you now. “No!”

“Stop.” Suddenly the voice that you needed to hear rang inside your ears. The sadness in his voice made you realize that he was back, just for a moment. “Stop it.”

You found yourself stumbling forward when you felt the pressure lift from your body. You could hear Sam running towards the gun, you wasted no time in heading over to Dean. But it wasn’t too long before the demon was back, his attention shifting towards Sam, who had managed to get the gun, and he was pointing it straight at him.

“You kill me, you kill Daddy.” Yellow Eyes reminded Sam of his consequences.

“I know.”

That’s why Sam aimed the gun down at his father’s leg. He pulled the trigger and took his shot. It wasn’t long before you heard John’s body hit the ground with a thud, but your attention went back towards the other man when you watched as Dean dropped. You quickly fell down to your knees and got him conscious again from the pressure of his wounds.

“Dean? Dean?” You whispered his name, a small smile spread across your lips when you caught sight of his eyes locking with yours for a moment. “Hey.”

“Oh, God, you lost a lot of blood.” Sam mumbled, you threw him a glare when he was crouching down next to you.

“Where’s Dad?” Dean asked, fear growing in his voice.

“He’s right here.” You said, gesturing your head to the man that was just a few feet from the three of you. “He’s right here, Dean.”

“Go check on him.” Dean managed to say. You looked over at Sam, nodding your head when he was a bit concerned to leave his brother. He let out a quiet sigh before he got up to his feet and headed over to the man who had been silent, almost too long for your liking.

“Dad?” Sam called out, walking closer to see if he was all right. “Dad?”

It was just nothing from him, until you saw the man quickly leaned his head up from the ground to warn all of you. “Sammy! It’s still alive. It’s inside of me. I can feel it. You shoot me.” Sam started at the man, not sure what to do. But John could sense his apprehension. “You shoot me! You shoot me in the heart, son!” You saw Sam get ready, like he was really willing to do this. “Do it, now!”

“Sam, don’t you do it.” Dean said, shaking his head. “Don’t you do it.”

“You’ve got to hurry. I can’t hold on much longer.” John growled, trying his hardest to keep the beast from taking over again. “You shoot me, son! Shot me!” But Sam still wouldn’t do it, his finger laid on the trigger. “Son, I’m begging you! We can end this here and now! Sammy, you kill me!”

“Sam, no.” You hissed. There had to be another way. You weren’t letting the man die.

“You do this!” John argued, he repeated his son’s name over and over again, but in the end, his son couldn’t do it. He lowered the gun, he couldn’t kill his father. Suddenly you thought it would have been the right decision, with what happened next.

All of you watched as the demon exited John, slipping itself through the cracks, and disappearing into the night, leaving all you with the fear that it was out there. Waiting to strike again. John stared at his son with disappointment before he rested his head down on the ground, over twenty years of hunting this damn thing, all of you were back to square one.

\+ + +

While the demon may have been out lurking, somewhere none of you knew, there was no denying that all of you needed to get to a hospital, and fast. You and Sam loaded up John in the passenger’s side with Dean in the back with you, Sam was behind the wheel. You busied yourself with trying to make sure that Dean stayed awake, afraid he would lose consciousness again from the blood that he lost earlier would only lead to an early death.

“Look, just hold on, alright?” Sam said, breaking the tension. “The hospital is only ten minutes away.”

It was another few moments before John spoke up, “I’m surprised at you, Sammy. Why didn’t you kill it? I thought we say eye-to-eye on this.” He said. You could hear his anger. “Killing this demon comes first—before me, before everything.”

Sam glanced up at the rearview mirror, he caught sight of you trying to talk to Dean, that was the reason to keep fighting. “No, sir. Not before everything.” Sam said. “Look, we’ve still got the colt. We still have the one bullet left. We just have to start all over, all right?” 

Suddenly a weird feeling began to fill inside your stomach, you turned your head at the right moment to see headlights passing you by. And they were coming closer with each passing second. The connection hit you. 

“SAM!”

“We already found the demon—” But before he could finish his sentence, you felt the car being hit with a rough force, sending all of you skidding across the road, just centimeters from a hill, just close enough to send you spiraling down. The truck stopped at the right time to keep the crash becoming any worse than it should have been. 

\+ + +

Hours. 

It felt like hours of you lying in your seat when you opened your eyes after losing consciousness from the crash. You blinked rapidly a few times, trying to get yourself to move, but the only thing that came out of your mouth was a pitiful whimper. Your entire body felt like it was on fire. Blood trickled from your head, your arm felt like someone had snapped it in half and stomped on it. You tried to lift yourself, but it wasn’t worth the effort. You looked over to your side to see Dean was out of it, leaning off towards the side. You managed to peak up just close enough to see John and Sam were just like the other man, lifeless.

You could hear footsteps coming towards the car. You opened your mouth, trying your hardest to speak. “Help.” You croaked out to the stranger. “Please.” You cried out, the pain beginning to become too much for you to handle.You couldn’t hold on anymore. Closing your eyes, you allowed the darkness to engulf your vision. The last thought that you had made you realize that you lost. You were going to die. 

You would never get never have a life beyond this monster. You wouldn’t see Sam graduate. You would never get married. You wouldn’t have children. 

You would never find the chance to tell him you loved him. Even at the brink of death, he was your thought last thought, last hope that something would come between the both of you. But now, there would be nothing. 

You just hoped he wouldn’t forget about you when he moved on.


End file.
